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Hiotographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WIST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  MSM 

(716)  •72-4503 


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CIHM/iCMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/ICIVIH 
CoElevCtion  de 
microfiches. 


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n 


D 


D 


D 


D 


D 


CoSoured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


j      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagde 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurie  et/ou  pellicul^e 


□    Cover  title  missing/ 
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I      I    Coloured  maps/ 


Cartes  g^ographiques  en  couleur 


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D 
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Transparence 

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10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

30X 

y 

12X 


16X 


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24X 


28X 


32X 


ails 

du 

difier 

Line 

lage 


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whichever  applies, 


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dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
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et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  n^cessaire.  Les  diagrar^imes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


rata 

3 


lelure. 


3 


32X 


1 

2 

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1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

PROFESSOR  ANDERSON'S  WORKS. 


NORSE  MYTLTOLOGY;  ob,  Thb  Kkligion  ojj-  Our  Fokbj-a- 
THERS.  Coutaining  all  the  Myths  of  the  Eddae,  carefully  eya- 
tematized  and  interpreted.  With  an  Introduction,  Vocabulary, 
and  Index.  473  pages,  crown  8vo;  cloth,  $3.50;  cloth,  gilt  edges, 
(3;  half  calf,  $3. 

"  Prof.  Anderson's  work  is  incomparably  superior  lo  the  already 
existing  books  of  this  order."— So'ibner^s  Moni/Uy. 

"  We  have  never  seen  so  complete  a  view  of  the  religion  of  the 
Norsemen."— Bibliotheca  Sacra. 

'*No   such  account  of  the  old  Scandinavian  Mythology  has 
hitherto  been  given  in  the  English  language.    It  is  full,  and  eluci 
dates  the  subject  from  all  points  of  viev/."—Frt^byteii,an  Qtiar- 
terly  and  Princeton  Review. 

"The  exposition,  analysis,  and  interpretation  of  the  Norse 
Mythology  leave  nothing  to  be  desired.  The  whole  structure  and 
framework  of  the  system  are  here;  and,  in  addition  to  this,  co- 
pious literal  translations  from  the  Eddas  and  Sagas  show  the 
reader  something  of  the  literary  form  in  which  the  system  found 
permanent  recora.  Occasionally  entire  songs  or  poems  are  pre- 
sented, and,  at  every  point  where  they  could  be  of  service,  illus- 
trative extracts  accompany  the  elucidations  of  the  text. 

"  Prof.  Anderson,  indeed,  has  left  little  to  be  performed  by 
future  workers  in  the  special  field  covered  by  his  present  work. 
*  *  His  work  is^very  nearly  perfect."— 4fipteto?iV  Journal. 

AMERICA  NOT  DISCOVERED  BY  COLUMBUS.  A  Historical 
Sketch  of  the  Discovery  of  America  by  the  Norsemen  in  the 
10th  century;  with  an  Appendix  on  the  Historical,  Literary  and 
Scientidc  value  of  the  Scandinavian  Languages.    $1.00. 

"  The  book  is  full  of  surprising  statement,  and  will  be  read  with 
something  like  wonderment."— ivo<c«  and  Queries.,  London. 

VIKING  TALES  OP  THE  NORTH.    Price  $2.00. 

DEN  NORSKE  MAALSAG.    Price  $1.00. 

IN  PBJEPABATIOy. 

THE  ELDER  EDDA;  or,  Our  Old  Northern  Grandmother. 
2  ?olB.,  crown  8vo. 

THB  YOUNGER  EDDA.    1  '  ol. 

For  further  notices  see  back  part  qf  this  volume. 


America  not  Discovered  by  Columbus. 


AN  HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


OP  THE 


\mmi  4  Jittema  tg  %  ^mmmi 


IN  THE  TENTH  CENTURY. 


By  RASMUS  B.  ANDERSON,  A.M., 

raO»!!SOR  OF  THK  BCANDINAV'.AN   LANnUlOKS   IN  THK   UNIVERSITY  OP  WIRCONEIN  J    HONORARr 

MEMBER  «»  THE  ICELANDIC  LITSRARV  SOCIETY  ;  AUTHOR  OF  "  NORSE  MYTHOLOGY," 

"  VIKINO  lALIE  0»  THE  NORTH  ;"   "  DEN   N0R8KE  MAALSAO,"  ETC.  ETC. 


WITH    AN    APPENDIX 

ON  THB 

niSTORICAL,   LINGUISTIC,    lilTERARY  AND   SCIEKTIPIC  VALUE 
OF  THE  SCANDINAVIAN  LANGUAGES. 


KEW  AND  IMPROVED  EDITION. 


CniCAGO: 
S.   C.  GRIGGS   AND   COMPANY. 
LONDON:  TRWbNER  &  CO. 

18  7  7. 


Copyright,  IBW, 
Bt  S.  C.  GRiaOS  AND  COMPANY. 


KNiaHT   ft    LEO.IARD,    PRINTERS,   OHIOAQO. 


PREFACE 


TN  preparing  this  sketch,  the  author  has  freely 
-■-  made  use  of  sucli  material  as  he  considered 
valuable  for  his  purpose  from  the  works  of  TorfsBus, 
C.  C.  Rafn,  J.  T.  Smith,  N.  L.  Beamish,  G.  Gra- 
vier,  B.  F.  De  Costa,  A.  Davis,  Washington  Irving, 
R.  M.  Ballantyne,  P.  A.  Munch,  R.  Keyser,  and 
others,  and  he  is  under  special  obligations  to  Dr. 
8.  H.  Carpenter,  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  for 
valuable  suggestions. 

This  sketch  does  not  claim  to  be  without  faults. 
The  style  may  seem  dull  and  heavy,  but  it  is  hoped 
that  the  reader  will  be  generous  in  criticising  an 
author  who  now  makes  his  iirst  appearance  before 
the  American  public.  The  object  of  this  sketch 
has  been  to  present  a  readable  and  truthful  narrative 
of  the  Norse  discovery  of  America,  to  create  some 
interest  in  the  people,  the  literature^,  and  the  early 
institutions  of  Norway,  and  especially  in  Iceland, — 
that  lonely  and  weird  island, —  the   Ul-hma  Tiiule 


fr 


4 


PKEFACK. 


of  the  Greek  Philosophers;  and  of  the  good  or  ill 
performance  of  the  task,  a  generous  public  must  be 
the  judge 


University  of  Wisconsin, 

June  18,  1H14. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPITER  I. 
The  Norsemen,  and  other  Peoples,  interested  in 

THE  D'"C0VERY  of  AMERICA, 35 

CHAPTER  II. 

Norse    Literature    has    been    Nbolecte)    by   the 

Learned  Men  op  the  Great  Nations,         -       -      41 

CHAPTER  III. 
Antiquity  dp  America, 45 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Phenician,  Greek,  Irish,  and  Welsh  CLi.iMS,     -       -     47 

CHAPTER  V. 
Who  Were  the  Norsemen?    -.----     49 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Iceland, 62 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Greenland, 58 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Ships  op  the  Norsemen, 61 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Sagas  and  Documents  ake  Genuine,     -       -       -     64 

CHAPTER  X. 
Bjarne  Heiuulfson,  986, 68 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Leif  Erikson,  1000,  .-..---      71 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Thorvald  Erikson,  1002, /  -      75 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Thorstein  Erikson,  1005, 78 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Thorfinn  Karlsefne  and  Gudrid,  1007,       -       -       -      79 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Other  Expeditions  by  the  Norsemen,  -       -       -     84 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
The  Discovery  of  America  by  Columbus,     -       -       -      So 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Conclusion,        .       .       -       • 93 

APPENDIX. 
The  Scandinavian  Languages, 95 


PREFACE  TO  THE  NEW  EDITION. 


SINCE  the  first  edition  of  this  little  book  was 
published,  the  discovery  of  America  has  received 
much  attention.  The  claims  of  the  Norsemen,  the 
Irish,  the  Welsh,  and  even  of  the  Chinese,  have  all 
been  varmly  advocated. 

In  presenting  this  new  edition  of  "America  not 
discovered  by  Columbus,"  we  desire  to  call  the  read- 
er's attention  to  some  of  the  literature  that  has  ap- 
peared since  the  publication  of  our  volume.  We  pass 
over  in  silence  all  the  newspaper  and  magazine  arti- 
cles and  reviews,  confining  ourselves  to  what  has  been 
put  in  book  form. 

1.  Immediately  after  the  publication  of  our  book, 
in  1874,  appeared  a  very  remarkable  work,  by  Aaron 
Goodrich,  entitled,  "  A  History  of  the  Character  and 
Achievements  of  the  so-called  Christopher  Columbus, 
with  numerous  Illustrations  and  an  Appendix  "  (New 
York,  D.  Appleton  &  Co.).  Goodrich  pronounces 
Columbus  a  fraud,  and  denounces  him  as  mean,  selfish, 
perfidious  and  cruel.  He  has  evidently  made  a  very 
careful  study  of  the  life  of  Columbus,  and  we  have 
looked  in  vain  for  a  satisfactory  refutation  of  his  state- 


8 


PREFACE  TO   THE   NEW    EDITION. 


ments.  In  Mr.  Goodrich's  book  will  be  found  a  brief 
but  tolerably  accurate  sketch  of  the  Norse  discovery 
of  this  continent. 

2.    In  1875  appeared  the  following  books : 
{a)  "  The  Island  of  Fire,"  by  P.  C.  Ileadley.     Its 
ninth  chapter  treats  of  the  discovery  of  America  by 
the  Norsemen. 

(h)  "  Young  Folks'  Hi&tory  of  the  United  States," 
by  Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson.  Its  fourth  chap- 
ter treats  of  the  Norse  discovery. 

(c)  "A  Grammar  School  History  of  the  United 
States,"  by  John  J.  Anderson  (New  York).  The  first 
section  gives  a  synopsis  of  the  Norse  discovery. 

(d)  "Lectures  delivered  in  America,"  by  Charles 
Kingsley.  The  third  lecture  is  upon  the  first  discov- 
ery of  America. 

(e)  "Fusarig,  or  the  Discovery  of  America  by 
Chinese  Buddhist  Priests,  in  the  Fifth  Century,"  by 
Charles  G.  Leland.  This  work  recognizes,  on  page 
32,  the  claims  of  the  Norsemen,  but  presents  an  older 
claim  by  the  Chinese,  showing  that  a  Buddhist  monk 
or  missionary,  named  Hoei-shin,  returned  in  the  year 
499  A.D.  from  a  long  journey  to  the  East.  The 
country  that  Hoei-shin  visited  is  claimed  to  be  Old 
and  New  Mexico,  and  was  called  by  him  Fusang. 
The  monk  had  found  in  this  new  and  strange  country 


PREFACE   TO   THE   NEW    EDITION. 


9 


an  abundance  of  the  maguey  plant,  or  great  cactus, 
wliich  he  called  fusang,  after  a  Chinese  plant  slightly 
resemblir  >  it,  and  this  name  (Fusang)  he  applied  to 
the  country  itself.  Leland's  book  is  well  worth 
reading. 

{f)  In  July,  1875,  was  held,  in  Nancy,  France, 
the  first  meeting  of  the  Congres  International  des 
Americanistes,  a  society  which  has  been  organized  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  thoroughly  investigating  the  pre- 
Columbian  history  of  the  American  continent.  The 
compte  rendu  of  this  session  has  been  published  in 
two  large  octavo  volumes,  by  Maisonneuve  et  Cie., 
Paris.  In  the  first  volume  will  be  found  many  valua- 
ble papers  on  the  discovery  of  America  by  the  Pheni- 
cians,  Chinese,  Irish,  Norsemen,  Welsh ;  and  on  the 
relation  of  these  discoveries  to  the  transatlantic  voy- 
ages by  Columbus.  The  second  meeting  of  this  society 
will  be  held,  September,  1877,  in  Luxembourg,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  will  in  course  of  time 
produce  a  unique  library  of  papers  and  discussions  on 
pre-Columbian  America.  "We  are  glad  to  notice  that 
the  savans  who  assembled  in  Nancy  in  1875  fully 
recognized  the  claims  of  the  Norsemen.* 

♦To  this  llBt  might  be  added  Bayard  Taylor's  "Egypt  and  Iceland;" 
Caton'8  "Summer  In  Norway;"  Qrlffln'8  "My  Danish  Days;"  and  John 
S.  C.  Abbott's  "Christopher  Columbus;"  In  all  of  which  the  Norse  claims 
are  vindicated.  The  last  Is  In  part  a  reply  to  the  above-mentioned  work  of 
Aaron  Goodrich. 


w 


10 


PKEFACi;   TO   TJIE   NEW    EDITION. 


1 1 


3.   In  1876  appeared: 

(a)  "  An  American  in  Iceland,"  by  Samuel  Knee- 
land.  Its  fourteenth  chapter  is  devoted  to  a  presenta- 
tion and  discussion  of  the  Noise  discovery  of  America. 

(h)  "  America  discovered  by  the  Welsh,"  by  Benja- 
min F.  Bowen  (Lippincott,  publisher).  The  voyages 
of  the  Norsemen,  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries, 
are  set  down,  on  page  23,  as  being  too  well  authenti- 
cated to  admit  of  any  doubt,  anu  the  book  gives  an 
interesting  and  elaborate  discussion  of  the  Welsh  dis- 
covery of  America,  in  the  year  1170,  by  Prince  Madoe 
and  his  followers,  in  order,  as  the  authoi  says,  "to 
assign  them  their  rightful  place  in  American  history." 
And,  indeed,  these  various  pre-Columbian  discoverers 
are  gradually  receiving  recognition  in  American  his- 
tory !  It  used  to  be  the  custom  to  pass  over  these 
early  visitors  to  our  continent  in  utter  silence  or  with 
a  contemptuous  fling  at  them,  as  though  they  were 
mere  myths,  created  only  for  the  purpose  of  tickling 
the  vanity  of  the  different  nationalities. 

It  gives  us  great  pleasure  to  be  able  to  state  that 
none  of  the  recent  histories  of  the  United  States  have 
neglected  to  call  attention  to  the  pre-Columbian  dis- 
coverers. Mr.  John  Clark  Ridpath  writes  the  title- 
page  of  his  work  as  follows :  "  A  History  of  the 
United  States  ot  America,  from  the  aboriginal  times 


PREFACE   TO   THE    NEW    EDITION. 


11 


scoverers 


to  the  present  day ;  embracing  an  account  of  the  Ab- 
origines ;  the  Norsemen  in  the  New  World ;  the  dis- 
coveries by  the  Spaniards,  English,  and  French,  etc. 
etc. ; "  and  part  II  of  the  work  begins  with  a  detailed 
account  of  the  Norse  discoveries. 

In  William  Ciillen  Bryant's  large  history  of  the 
United  States,  no\^  being  published,  we  find  the  fol- 
lowing very  interesting  title-page:  "A  Popular  History 
of  the  United  States,  from  the  first  discovery  of  the 
Western  Hemisphere  by  the  Northmen  to  the  end  of 
the  I'irst  Century  of  the  Union  of  the  States;"  and  a 
hi'ge  portion  of  the  first  volume  of  that  great  work  is 
devoted  to  an  elaborate  account  of  the  discovery  of 
the  American  continent  by  the  Norsemen,  Irish, 
Welsh,  etc.  This  is  right,  and  therefore  we  approve 
it  and  are  glad  of  it.  "Truth  cnished  to  earth 
will  rise  again,"  and  in  the  growing  recognition  of 
the  claims  of  the  Norsemen  to  the  honor  of  having 
discovered  America  in  the  tenth  century  is  a  beautiful 
illustration  of  the  truth  contained  in  this  sentence. 

While  ^^e  various  writers  here  alluded  to  freely 
admit  the  fact  that  the  Norsemen,  as  well  ae  others, 
discovered  and  explored  parts  of  America  long  before 
Columbus,  they  are  unwilling  to  believe  that  there  is 
any  historical  connection  between  the  discovery  of  the 
Norsemen  and  t)iat  of  Columbus;  or,  in  other  words, 


12 


PSEFACE  TO  THE  NEW  EDITION. 


)1 


that  Columbus  profited  in  any  way  by  the  Norsemen's 
knowledge  of  America. 

This  is  all  the  more  singular,  since  none  of  them 
even  try  to  deny  the  statement  made  hy  Fernando 
Columbo,*  his  son,  that  he  (Christopher  Columbus) 
not  only  spent  some  time  in  Iceland,  in  1477,  but 
sailed  three  hundred  miles  beyond,  which  must  have 
brought  him  nearly  within  sight  of  Greenland.  We 
are  informed  that  he  was  an  earnest  student  and  the 
best  geographer  and  map-maker  of  his  day.  He 
was  a  diligent  reader  of  Aristotle,  Seneca  and  Strabo. 
Why  not  also  of  Adam  of  Bremen,  who  in  his  vol- 
ume, published  in  the  year  1076,  gave  an  accurate 
and  well  authenticated  account  of  Vinland  (New 
England)  ? 

Is  it  not  fair  to  say  that  Columbus  must  have  read 
Adam  of  Bremen's  book,  and  that  he  in  1477  went  to 
explore  and  reconnoitre  the  old  northern  route  by  way 
of  Iceland,  Greenland,  Markland  and  Helluland  to 
Vinland  ?  We  must  insist  that  it  is,  to  say  the  least, 
highly  probable  that  he  had  in  some  way  obtained 
knowledge  of  the  discoveries  of  the  Norsemen  in  the 
w?8tern  ocean,  and  that  he  thought  their  Vinland  to 

The  Btatement  Is  found  in  Chapter  iv  of  the  biography,  which  the  eon 
of  Oliristopher  Colambas,  Fernando,  wrote  of  his  father,  and  which  was 
published  in  Venice  in  1671.  Its  title  is,  '^  Vita  dell'  admlraglio  Chrisophoro 
Colnmbo.'* 


PBEFACB   TO   THE   NEW   EDITION. 


13 


be  the  eastern  shores  of  Asia.  But  no  matter  what 
induced  him  to  go  to  Iceland.*  We  know  positively 
that  he  went  there  and  even  three  hundred  miles 
beyond  it.  The  Ir^st  Norse  voyage  to  America  of 
which  we  Lave  any  account  was  in  the  year  1347,  and 
is  it  possible,  we  ask,  that  Columbus  could  visit  Ice- 
land only  130  years  later  and  learn  nothing  of  the 
famous  Yinland  the  Good  ? 

We  firmly  believe  in  evolution  so  far  as  the  dis- 
covery of  America  is  concerned.  We  believe  that  the 
voyages  of  the  Phenicians  and  of  the  Greek  Pytheas 
were  the  germ  that  budded  in  the  explorations  of  Irish 
Welshmen  and  Norsemen,  and  culminated  in  the  dis- 
covery of  America  by  Columbus.  Columbus  added 
the  last  link  of  the  golden  chain  that  was  to  unite  the 
two  continents.  We  believe  that  Columbus  was  a 
scholar,  who  industriously  studied  all  books  and  manu- 
scripts that  contained  any  information  about  voyages 
and  discoveries ;  that  his  searching  mind  sought  out  the 
writings  of  Adam  of  Bremen,  that  well-known  historian 
who  in  the  most  unmistakable  and  emphatic  language 
speaks  of  the  Norse  discovery  of  Vinland;  that  the 

*The  famoas  geographer  Malte-Bran  enggeste,  in  his  Histoire  de  la 
O^ographie,  it,  pp.  395,  499,  that  Columbus,  when  in  Italy,  had  heard  of 
the  Norse  discoreries  beyond  Iceland,  for  Rome  was  then  the  world's  center, 
and  all  infonnation  of  importance  was  sent  there;  and  we  know  that  Pope 
Paschal  H  appointed  Erik  Upsi  Bishop  of  Vinland  in  the  year  1113,  and 
that  Erik  Upsi  went  personally  to  Vinland  in  1121. 


14 


PREFACE   TO   THE   NEW    EDITION. 


information  thus  gathered  induced  him  to  make  his 
voyage  to  Iceland.  And  thus  we  are  able  to  explain 
the  firm  conviction  that  Columbus  invariably  ex- 
pressed in  reference  to  land  in  the  west ;  thus  we  can 
account  for  the  absolute  certainty  and  singular  firm- 
ness with  which  he  talked  of  land  across  the  ocean ; 
and  thus  we  can  account  for  his  accurate  knowledge  of 
the  breadth  of  the  ocear. 

Many  have  objected  that  Columbus  never  enter- 
tained an  idea  of  discovering  a  new  world,  but  that  he 
was  in  search  of  a  western  route  to  India.  What  of  it? 
Why  could  not  Columbus  have  supposed  that  the 
Vinland,  which  the  Norsemen  had  found,  and  which 
Adam  of  Bremen  wrote  about,  was  the  very  India  to 
which  he  wanted  to  find  a  western  route?  Grant  that 
all  he  wanted  to  know  was,  whether  land  could  be 
found  by  sailing  westward, — if  he  ever  had  such  an 
opinion  he  must  certainly  have  gotten  it  confirmed  in 
Iceland.  The  Norsemen  had  not  discovered  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean,  and  Columbus  might  well  have  believed 
that  the  Norsemen  had  discovered  India. 

If  Columbus  had  learned  of  Yinland  when  he  was 
in  Iceland,  why  did  he  not  sail  farther  north  instead 
of  going  so  far  to  the  south  that  he  reached  the  West 
India  Islands  instead  of  New  England?  This  question 
has  frequently  been  urged,    and  we  reply,  that  the 


PREFACE   TO   THE   NEW    EDITION. 


16 


M 


Icelanders  must  have  told  him,  as  they  state  in 
their  Sagas,  that  far  to  the  south  of  Vinland  was 
Irland-it-Mikla,  or  Great  Ireland ;  that  this  Great  Ire- 
land extended  certainly  as  far  south  as  the  present 
Florida,  and  hence  his  shortest  and  most  pleasant 
route  would  be  to  sail  about  due-west  from  Spain. 
Granting  that  America  had  not  yet  been  found,  any 
South  European  navigator,  who  had  examined  the  Old 
Norse  Sagas,  and  wanted  to  re-discover  the  lands  there- 
in described,  would  feel  sure  of  reaching  Irland-it-Mikla 
by  taking  about  the  same  course  as  did  Columbus. 

In  presenting  these  arguments,  we  repeat  a  state- 
ment that  we  have  made  elsewhere,  that  we  are  not 
detracting  in  any  way  from  the  great  and  well-de- 
served fame  of  Columbus.  We  are  rather  vindicat- 
ing him  as  a  man  of  thorough  scholarship,  great 
research,  good  judgment,  in  short  a  man  of  extraor- 
dinary ability,  by  showing  that  his  discovery  of 
America  was  the  fruit  of  patient  and  persevering 
study  of  all  the  geographical  information  within  his 
reach,  and  not  a  matter  of  chance,  baseless  specula- 
tion, or  as  some  would  like  to  have  it,  inspiration. 

We  believe  he  examined   carefully  the  traditions 

found  in  Plato  of  an  island  Atlantis,  that  had  been 

swallowed    up   by   the  waves;   we   believe   he   read 

.what  Dioduros  says  about  Phenician  merchants  who 


16 


PBEFACE   TO   THE  NEW    EDITION. 


were  driven  by  storms  out  of  their  course  and  found 
a  fertile  land  to  the  west  of  Africa;  we  believe  he 
had  read  Adam  of  Bremen,  and  that  he  could  not 
rest  satisfied,  before  he  had  undertaken  that  perilous 
voyage  to  Iceland  and  heard  from  the  v^ry  lips  of 
the  Norsemen  themselves,  the  sagas  relating  to  Vin- 
land  and  Great  Ireland. 

We  neglected  to  mention  in  our  first  edition 
the  two  remarkable  visitors  to  America, — Are  Mar- 
son  and  Bjorn,  the  Champion  of  Breidavik;  and  we 
gave  Gudleif  Gudlaugson  but  a  passing  notice,  for  the 
reason  that  their  voyages  are  in  no  really  historical 
connection  with  the  voyages  of  Leif  and  Thorvald 
Erikson  and  Thorfinn  Karlsefne.  The  Landndmabok 
and  Eyrbyggja  Sagas  give  elaborate  accounts  of  these 
adventurers,  the  substance  of  which  is  as  foilows : 

The  powerful  chieftain.  Are  Marson,  of  Reykjanes, 
in  Iceland,  was,  in  the  year  983,  driven  to  Great 
Ireland  (the  country  around  the  Chesapeake  Bay)  by 
storms,  and  was  there  baptized.  The  first  author  of 
this  account  was  his  contemporary,  Rafn,  surnamed 
the  Limerick-trader,  he  having  long  resided  in  Lim- 
erick, in  Ireland.  The  illustrious  Icelandic  sage.  Are 
Frode,  the  first  compiler  of  Landndma,  who  was  him- 
self a  descendant  in  the  fourth  degree  from  Are  Mar- 
son,  states  on  this  subject  that  his  uncle,  Thorkel 


PREFACE   TO   THE   NEW    EDITION. 


17 


Gellerson,  (whose  testimony  he  on  another  occasion 
declares  to  be  worthy  ot  all  credit,)  had  been  informed 
by  Icelanders,  who  had  their  information  from  Thorlinn 
Sigurdson,  jarl  of  Orkney,  that  Are  had  been  recog- 
nized in  Great  Ireland,  and  could  not  get  away  from 
there,  but  was  there  held  in  great  respect.  This  state- 
ment therefore  shows  that  in  those  times  (A.  D.  983) 
there  was  an  occasional  intercourse  between  the  west- 
ern part  of  Europe  (the  Orkneys  and  Ireland)  and  the 
Great  Ireland  or  Whiteman's  Land  of  America.  The 
[Saga  (Landndmabok,  Landtaking  Book,  Domesday 
Jook)  expressly  states  that  Great  Ireland  lies  to  the 
rest,  in  the  sea,  near  to  Yinland  the  Good,  YI  days' 
liling  west  from  Ireland  ;  and  Professor  Rafn  was  of 
the  opinion  that  the  figures  VI  have  arisen  through 
jorae  mistake  or  carelesouess  of  the  transcriber  of  the 
)riginal  manuscript,  which  is  now  lost,  and  were  er- 
roneously written  for  XX,  XI,  or  perhaps  XY,  which 
rould  better  correspond  with  the  distance.  The  mis- 
ike  might  easily  have  been  caused  by  a  blot  or  defect 
In  the  manuscript. 

It  must  have  been  in  this  same  Great  Ireland  that 
Jjorn  Asbrandson,  surnamed  the  Champion  of  Breid- 
ivik,  spent  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  He  had  been 
iopted  into  the  celebrated  band  of  Jomsborg  war- 

fiors,  that  Dr.  G.  W.  Dasent  describes  in  his  "  Yikings 
1* 


18 


PREFACE   TO   THE   NEW    EDITION. 


i  i: 


of'  the  Baltic,"  under  Palnatoke,  and  took  part  with 
them  in  the  battle  of  Fyrisval,  in  Sweden.  His  illicit 
amatory  connection  with  Thiirid  of  Froda  (River  Frod) 
in  Iceland,  a  sister  of  the  powerful  Snorre  Gode,  drew 
upon  him  the  enmity  and  persecution  of  the  latter,  in 
consequence  of  which  he  found  himself  obliged  to  quit 
the  country  for  ever,  and  in  the  year  999  he  set  sail 
from  Iceland  with  a  northeast  wind. 

Gudleif  Gudlaugson,  brother  of  Thoriinn,  the  an- 
cestor of  the  celebrated  historian,  Snorre  Sturleson, 
had,  as  related  in  Chapter  I  of  this  volume,  made  a 
trading  voyage  to  Dublin,  in  Ireland;  but  when  he 
left  that  place  again,  with  the  intention  of  sailing 
round  Ireland  and  returning  to  Iceland,  he  met  with 
long-continuing  northeasterly  winds,  which  drove  him 
far  to  the  southwest  in  the  ocean,  and  late  in  the 
summer  he  and  his  company  came  at  last  to  an  ex- 
tensive country,  but  they  knew  not  what  country  it 
was.  On  their  landing,  a  crowd  of  the  natives,  several 
hundreds  in  number,  came  against  them,  and  laid 
hands  on  them,  and  bound  them.  They  did  not  know 
anybody  in  the  crowd,  but  it  seemed  to  them  that 
their  language  resembled  Irish.  The  natives  now  took 
counsel  whether  they  should  kill  the  strangers  or  make 
slaves  of  them.  While  they  were  deliberating,  a  large 
company  approached,  displaying  a  banner,  close  to 


fill 


PREFACE   TO  THE    NEW    EDITION. 


19 


wnich  rode  a  man  of  distinguished  appearance,  who 
was  far  advanced  in  years,  and  had  gray  hair.  The 
matter  under  deliberation  was  referred  to  his  decision. 
He  was  the  above-named  Bjorn  Asbrandsou.  He 
caused  Gudleif  to  be  brought  before  him,  and,  address- 
ing him  in  the  Norse  language,  he  asked  him  whence 
he  came.  On  his  replying  that  he  was  an  Icelander, 
Bjorn  made  many  inquiries  about  his  acq  aintance  in 
Iceland,  particularly  about  his  beloved  Thurid  of  Frod 
River,  and  her  son  Kjartan,  supposed  to  be  his  own 
son,  and  who  at  that  time  was  the  proprietor  of  the 
estate  of  Frod  River.  In  the  meantime,  the  natives 
becoming  impatient  and  demanding  a  decision,  Bjorn 
selected  twelve  of  his  company  as  counselors,  and  took 
them  aside  with  him,  and  some  time  afterward  he 
went  toward  Gudleif  and  his  companions  and  told 
them  that  the  natives  had  left  the  matter  to  his  de- 
cision. He  thereupon  gave  them  their  liberty,  and 
advised  them,  although  the  summer  was  already  far 
advanced,  to  depart  immediately,  because  the  natives 
were  not  to  be  depended  on,  and  were  difficult  to  deal 
with,  and,  moreover,  conceived  that  an  infringement 
on  their  laws  had  been  committed  to  their  disadvan- 
tage. He  gave  them  a  gold  ring  for  Thurid  and  a 
sword  for  Kjartan,  and  told  them  to  charge  his  friends 
and  relations  not  to  come  over  to  him,  as  he  had  now 


20 


PREFACE  TO  THE   NEW   EDITION. 


become  old,  and  might  daily  expect  that  old  age  would 
get  the  better  of  him;  that  the  country  was  large, 
having  but  few  harbors,  and  that  strangers  must  every- 
where expect  a  hostile  reception.  Gudleif  and  his 
company  accordingly  set  sail  again,  and  found  their 
way  back  to  Dublin,  where  they  spent  the  winter ;  but 
the  next  summer  they  repaired  to  Iceland,  and  de- 
livered the  presents,  and  everybody  was  convinced 
that  it  was  really  Bjorn  Asbrandson,  the  Champion  of 
Breidavik,  that  they  had  met  with  in  that  far-otf 
country. 

An  American  poet,  G(eorge)  E.  O(tis),  published 
in  1874,  in  Boston,  a  very  pleasant  poem  based  on  the 
saga  narrative  of  Bjorn  Asbrandson.  The  name  of  tiie 
poem  is  "  Thurid."  The  above  narrative,  taken  from 
"Antiqultates  Americanae,"  is  merely  a  brief  abstract 
of  the  sagas  which,  in  the  case  of  Bjorn,  as  the  reader 
may  easily  imagine,  is  brimful  of  dramatic  and  poetic 
interest.  The  Landndmabok  and  the  Eyrbyggja  Saga 
are  of  vital  importance  to  every  one  who  would  make 
a  study  of  the  discovery  of  America  by  the  Irish,  but 
as  we  expect  at  some  future  day  to  be  able  to  give 
to  the  public  a  complete  translation  of  all  the  old 
Norse  sagas  treating  of  voyages  to  the  western  con- 
tinent, we  must  pass  on  to  another  subject. 

Anent  the  Dighton  Rock,  we  have  had  some  corre- 


PREFACE   TO   THE   NEW    EDITION. 


21 


spondence  with  Elisha  Slade,  Esq.,  of  Somerset,  Bristol 

county,  Massachusetts.     Before  giving  his  letters  we 

will   say,   in  general,   that   until   sufficient   proof  of 

some  other  origin  of  the  Newport   Tower  and   the 

Dighton  Rock  inscriptions  are  given,  we  shall  persist 

in  claiming  them  as  relics  of  the  Norsemen.*    Now 

please  read  the  following  letters: 

Somerset,  Bristol  County,  Massachusetts, 

Dect-mber  17,  1875. 

Dear  Sir, — I  take  pleasure  in  forwarding  to  your 
address  a  stereoscopic  view  of  the  celebrated  Dighton 
Rock,  situated  in  Taunton  River,  at  low  water  mark, 
three  miles  north  of  Somerset,  on  the  eastern  bank 
of  the  river.  As  you  well  know,  the  rock  has  been 
the  subject  of  much  learned  discussion  at  various 
times  since  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims. 

Geologically,  Dighton  Rock  is  a  silicious  sand- 
stone of  the  upper  Silurian  period,  and,  I  think, 
belongs  to  the  Helderberg  group,  stratified  as  you 
see  in  the  picture,  the  stratifications  at  right  angles 
to  the  face  and  parallel  ^o  the  surface ;  was  probably 
deposited  in  still  water ;  is  a  boulder  and  not  in  situ. 

I  have  carefully  measured  the  rock,  and  the  fol- 
lowing is  the  result  of  my  work: 

The  face  of  the  rock,  on  which  are  the  inscriptions, 

*  We  are  fully  aware  that  the  Copenhagen  runologlBta  do  not  regard  the 
Dighton  Rock  Inscription  as  a  worlc  of  the  Norsemen.  Bat  in  the  first  place 
the  writing  is  not  claimed  to  be  ninic,  but  Soman.  Prof.  Rafn  himself  did 
not  try  to  show  more  than  two  or  three  runic  letters  in  it.  And  in  the  second 
place  we  are  not  aware  that  either  Stephens  or  Worsaae  have  ever  made  any 
careful  examination  of  the  inscription.  When  they  have  made  a  thorough 
■tudyof  it  and  reported,  we  are  willing  to  accept  their  decision  on  the  subject. 


22 


PRKFACE   TO   THE    NEW    EDITION. 


liiis  an  angle  of  47°  to  the  liorizon,  and  the  surface 
(not  seen  in  tlie  picture)  as  it  slopes  toward  the  shore 
is  in  the  mean  25°  to  the  horizon. 

The  mean  height  of  the  rock  on  its  face  above 
the  ground  is  1,293  meters. 

Its  mean  length  on  its  surface  is  1,768  meters. 

Its  mean  width  is  3,384  meters. 

Its  contents  above  ground  is  3,871  cubic  meters. 

Its  weight  is  9,071,023  kilogrammes. 

In  viewing  the  rock,  you  are  looking  in  a  south- 
easterly direction,  or,  perhaps,  more  nearly  SS.E.  by 
the  compass,  but  the  magnetic  needle  here  has  a 
variation  of  11°  03'  west  of  north. 

The  rock  is  almost  covered  with  water  at  high 
tide,  and  can  only  be  seen  to  advantage  at  low  tide. 

The  inscriptions  on  the  rock  are  from  one-eighth 
to  three-eighths  of  an  inch  deep.  At  the  time  it 
was  photographed  I  made  nearly  all  of  the  chalk 
marks  myself,  and  no  chalking  was  made  where  the 
<mtting  in  tJie  rock  was  not  plainly  visible  to  the  eye, 
and  many  markings  partly  obscure  were  not  touched, 
thus  giving  the  rock  the  benefit  of  all  possible  doubt. 

Captain  A.  M.  Harrison,  in  charge  of  the  United 
States  Coast  Survey,  engaged  in  work  on  Taunton 
River,  was  present  when  the  photograph  was  taken, 
and  he  is  engaged  upon  a  history  of  the  Norsemen's 
discovery  of  America,  in  connection  with  Dighton 
Rock,  by  request  of  the  United  States  government. 
His  report,  when  completed,  will  be  a  valuable 
work.     I  am,  my  dear  sir,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant,        Elisha  Slade. 


PKEFACK   TO   THE    NEW    EDITION. 


23 


semen's 


It  has  80  frequently  been  claimed  that  the  inscrip- 
tions on  Dighton  Rock  are  nothing  but  "  Indian 
scrawls,"  hence  we  wrote  to  Mr.  Slade,  asking  him 
whether  they  could,  in  his  opinion,  have  been  made 
with  stone  implements.     Here  is  his  answer: 

SoMEiisET,  BursToii  County,  MASsAcnuHETTs, 

March  13,  1876. 

Dear  Sir, — You  ask  my  opinion  as  to  the  instru- 
ments used  in  cutting  the  mseriptions  on  Dighton 
Rock.  I  think  they  were  iron  implements,  and 
that  they  were  in  the  liands  of  a  skilled  mechanic  — 
.a  Norseman  worthy  of  the  name.  I  do  not  know 
that  my  opinion  on  this  question  is  of  any  conse- 
quence, still  I  have  seen  work  undoubtedly  performed 
by  an  aboriginal  American  with  flint  and  stone  tools, 
but  the  characters  were  not  nicely  edged,  as  these 
are.  I  cannot  believe  they  were  made  by  the  lazy 
Indian  of  Schoolcraft. 

I  have  a  decided  interest  in  the  Norsemen's  visit 
to  New  England,  for  Thorfinn  must  have  been  well 
acquainted  with  Somerset,  my  native  town.  He 
must  have  seen  Taunton  River  as  I  see  it,  with 
Mount  Hope  and  Narragansett  bay,  and  seen  the 
same  sun  rise  over  the  same  hills  and  set  behind 
the  same  ridge  865  years  ago.  It  is  not  impossible 
that  Snorre  was  born  in  Somerset. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Elisha  Slade. 


24 


PREFACE   TO   THE   NEW    EDITION. 


J 


In  reference  to  this  curious  rock  we  will  now 
only  refer  the  reader  to  Chapter  XIY  of  this  book. 

From  Joseph  Story  Fay,  Esq.,  of  Wood's  Holl, 
Massachusetts,  we  have  received  the  following  very 
interesting  paper  on  "The  Track  of  the  Norsemen," 
which  we  recommend  to  the  careful  perusal  of  our 
readers.  Before  presenting  it,  however,  we  will  re- 
mark that  the  name  Hope  is  found  in  Thorfinn  Karl- 
sefne's  Saga,  where  we  read :  "  Karlsefne  sailed  with 
his  people  into  the  mouth  of  the  river  (Taunton 
Rive-),  and  they  called  the  place  Hop  (Mount 
Hope)."  Hope  is  from  the  Icelandic  h&pa^  to  recede, 
and  signifies  a  by  or  the  mouth  of  a  river.  The 
description  in  the  saga  corresponds  exactly  with  the 
present  situation  of  Mount  Hope  Bay.  Here  is  Mr. 
Fay's  paper.  (We  publish  it  by  permission  of  the 
author.) 

It  is  now  well  established  that  in  the  tenth  cent- 
ury the  Norsemen  visited  this  country,  and  coasting 
down  from  Greenland,  passed  along  Cape  Cod,  through 
Vineyard  Sound  to  Narragansett  Bay,  where  it  is  be- 
"lieved  they  settled.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Assonet 
and  Dighton,  inscriptions  upon  the  rocks  have  been 
found,  and  traditions  exist  that  there  were  others, 
which  have  been  destroyed.  The  name  of  Mount 
Hope  is  supposed  to  have  been  given  to  the  Indians 
by  them,  and  it  is  a  little  curious  that  those  antiquaries 


PREFACE   TO   THE   NEW    EDITION. 


25 


very 


cent- 


uaries 


who  have  tried  to  identify  the  names  in  Narragansett 
Bay  with  the  Norsemen  did  not  look  elsewhere  on 
their  route. 

The  Rev.  Isaac  Taylor,  the  author  of  a  work 
published  by  Macmillan  &  Co.,  of  London,  entitled 
"  Words  and  Places,"  dilates  upon  the  tenacity  with 
which  the  names  of  places  adhere  to  them,  "  throwing 
light  upon  history  when  other  records  are  in  doubt." 
He  shows  the  progress  and  extent  of  the  Celtic,  Nor- 
wegian and  Saxon  migration  over  Europe,  by  the 
names  and  terminals  which  still  exist  over  that  conti- 
nent and  even  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
and  says,  "the  knowledge  of  the  history  and  migra- 
tions of  such  tribes  must  be  recovered  from  the  study 
of  the  names  of  thef  places  they  once  inhabited,  but 
which  now  know  them  no  more,  from  the  names  of 
the  hills  which  they  fortified,  of  the  rivers  by  which 
they  dwelt,  of  the  distant  mountains  upon  which  they 
gazed."  He  says,  "  In  the  Shetlands,  every  local  name 
without  exception  is  Norwegian.    The  names  of  the 

farms  end  in  seter  or ster,  and  the  hills  are 

called hoy  and holl ; "  and  yet  he  also  says, 

"  the  name  of  Greenland  is  the  only  one  left  to  remind 
us  of  the  Scandinavian  settlements  which  were  made 
in  America  in  the  tenth  century."  Would  the  author 
have  made  this  exception  to  his  axiom  as  to  the  dura- 
bility of  names,  had  he  remembered  that  the  Norse- 
men called  the  southern  coast  of  Massachusetts  Vm- 
LAND,  and  then  had  seen  tliat  we  still  have  "  Martin's  " 
or  "  Martha's  Vineyard  ? "  Had  he  sighted  Cape  Cod 
8 


26 


PREFACE   TO   THE   NEW    EDITION. 


I 


and  entered  Vineyard  Sound  as  the  Norsemen  did,  in 
rounding  Monomoy  Point,  the  southeast  extremity  of 
the  cape,  he  would  have  seen  on  his  right  a  high 
sandy  hill,  on  or  near  which  is  the  light-house,  over- 
looking a  land-locked  anchorage  on  the  inside  called 
Powder  Hole ;  a  score  or  more  of  miles  farther  along, 
across  the  sound,  on  his  left,  he  would  have  seen  the 
hills  now  called  Oak  Bluffs  and  the  Highlands,  and 
under  their  lee  a  deep  bay  and  roadstead  long  known 
as  Holmes'  Hole,  unfortunately  changed  to  Vineyard 
Haven ;  crossing  over  to  the  m.ainland  again,  a  little 
farther  west,  he  would  have  come  to  the  bold  but 
prettily  rounded  hills  forming  the  southwestern  ex- 
tremity of  the  cape,  and  behind  them  the  sheltered 
and  picturesque  harbor  of  Wood's  Hole. 

Proceeding  thence  toward  Narragansett  Bay, 
along  the  south  coast  of  Naushop,  prominent  hills  on 
the  west  end  of  that  island  slope  down  to  a  roadstead 
for  small  craft,  and  a  passage  through  to  Buzzard's 
Bay,  called  Robinson's  Hole;  the  Jiext  island  is 
Basque ;  and  between  its  high  hills  and  those  of 
Nashawena  is  a  passage  called  Quick's  Hole.  Now 
these  several  localities  are  unlike  each  other  except 
that  all  have  hills  in  their  vicinity,  serving  as  distin- 
guishing landmarks.  And  why  is  not  the  word  hole 
as  applied  to  them  a  corruption  of  the  Norwegian 
word  hoil,  meaning  hill  ?  The  descriptive  term  hole 
is  not  applicable  to  any  of  them,  but  the  word  hoU  is 
to  the  adjacent  hills,  while  there  is  little  else  in  com- 
mon between  them.    The  localities  now  called  Quick's 


1 1 


PREFACE   TO   THE   NEW    EDITION. 


27 


iind  Robinson's  Hole  are  passages  between  Elizabeth 
Islands;  "Wood's  Hole  ir  a  passage  and  a  harbor; 
Holmes'  Hole,  now  known  as  Vineyard  Haven,  is  a 
deep  bay  or  anchorage;  and  Powder  Hole  was  for- 
merly a  capacious  roadstead,  now  nearly  filled  with 
sand. 

It  may  seem  to  militate  with  the  theory  advanced, 
that  south  of  Powder  Hole  or  Monomoy  Point  is  a 
locality  called  on  the  chart  Butler's  Hole,  which  lies 
in  the  course  from  Handkerchief  Shoal  to  Pollock 
Rip,  where  there  is  now  not  only  no  hill  but  no  land. 
But  it  is  to  be  considered  that  almost  within  the 
memory  of  man  there  was  land  in  that  vicinity,  which 
has  been  washed  away  by  the  same  strong  and  eccen- 
tric current  that  has  nearly  filled  up  Powder  Hole 
harbor  and  made  it  a  sand-flat,  and  which  still  casts 
up  on  the  shore  large  roots  and  remains  of  trees. 
With  this  in  mind  it  is  not  wild  to  suppose  that 
Butler's  Hole  marks  a  spot  where  once  was  an  island 
with  a  prominent  hill,  which  the  sea  kings  called  a 
hoU,  and  which  has  succumbed  to  the  powerful  abra- 
sion of  the  tides  which  have  moved  Pollock  Rip  many 
yards  to  the  eastward,  and  which  every  year  make  and 
unmake  shoals  in  the  vicinity  of  Nantucket  and  Cape 
Cod. 

It  would  seem  a  matter  of  course  that  the  Norse- 
men, after  their  long  and  perhaps  rough  voyages, 
when  once  arrived  in  the  sheltered  waters  and  harbors 
of  Vineyard  Sound  should  have  become  familiar  with 
them,  and  should  have  lingered  there  to  recruit  and 


!  ! 


28 


PREFACE   TO   THE   NEW    EDITION. 


relit,  before  proceeding  westward  ;  or  on  their  return, 
to  have  waited  there  to  gather  up  resources  before 
venturing  out  on  the  open  ocean.  Indeed,  it  is  re- 
corded in  their  sagas  that  they  brought  off  boat  loads 
of  grapes  from  those  pleasant  shores.  What  more 
probable  than  that  they  cultivated  friendly  relations 
with  the  natives,  and  in  coming  to  an  understanding 
with  them  on  subjects  in  common,  should  have  told 
them  the  Norwegian  terms  for  the  hills  and  headlands 
of  their  coast,  and .  that  the  Indians,  in  the  paucity  of 
their  own  language,  should  have  adopted  the  appella- 
tive holl,  which  they  were  told  signified  hill,  so  impor- 
tant as  a  landmark  to  these  wandering  sea  kings! 
Why  may  not  the  Norsemen  have  called  them  so, 
until  the  natives  adopted  the  same  title,  and  handed  it 
down  to  the  English  explorers  under  Bartholomew 
Gosnold,  who  gave  their  own  patronymics  to  those 
several  hoi  Is,  or  holes,  as  now  called  ?  The  statement 
of  "  the  oldest  inhabitant "  of  Wood's  Hole,  on  being 
asked  where  the  word  hole  came  from,  is,  that  he 
"  always  understood  that  it  came  from  the  Indians." 

There  being  no  harbor  on  the  shores  of  Martha's 
Vineyard  island  west  of  Holmes'  Hole,  the  voyagers 
would  naturally  follow  the  north  shore  of  the  sound 
and  become  familiar  with  the  Elizabeth  Islands,  and 
be  more  likely  lo  give  names  to  the  localities  on  that 
side  than  on  the  other.  Between  Wood's  Hole  and 
Holmes'  Hole  the  sound  is  narrowest,  and  they  would 
be  apt  to  frequent  either  harbor  as  the  winds  and  tide 
might  make  it  safe  or  convenient  for  them. 


PREFACK   TO   THE    NEW    E'/ITION. 


29 


It  seems  to  confirm  the  views  here  advanced  tliat 
in  no  other  part  of  this  continent  or  of  the  world, 
where  the  English  have  settled,  is  to  be  commonly 
found  the  local  name  of  hole,  and  yet  here  in  a  dis- 
tance of  sixty  miles,  the  thoroughfare  of  these  bold 
navigators,  there  are  no  less  than  five  such  still  extant. 
How  can  it  be  explained  except  because  it  is  "the 
track  of  the  Norsemen"?  It  is  not  natural  or  proba- 
ble, with  their  imperfect  means  of  navigation,  that 
they  should  have  passed  from  Greenland  to  Narragan- 
sett  Bay,  leaving  distinct  traces  in  each,  and  yet  to 
have  ignored  the  whole  intervening  space,  and  not  to 
have  lingered  awhile  on  the  shores  where  they  found 
grapes  by  the  boat  load,  and  which  nmst  have  been  as 
fair  and  pleasant  in  those  days  as  they  are  no  v.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  at  least  our  people  will  not  be  in 
haste  to  wipe  out  the  local  names  of  Vineyard  Sound, 
when  it  is  so  likely  that  they  are  the  oldest  on  the 
continent  and  give  to  Massachusetts  a  priority  of 
discovery  and  settlement  over  her  sister  States.  Only 
let  us  correct  the  spelling,  and  give  proper  significance 
to  them  by  calling  the  places  now  named  Hole  by  the 
appropriate  title  of  Holl. 

Before  closing  this  preface  we  wish  to  add  a  few 
facts  about  the  plans  of  the  distinguished  violinist 
Ole  Bull  in  reference  to  a  monument  in  honor  of 
the  Norse  discoverers  of  America. 

At  the  close  of  a  complimentary  reception  given 
to  the  distinguished  artist  in  the  Music  Hall,  Boston, 


80 


p.  ''i 


PREFACE   TO   THE   NEW    EDITION. 


Massachusetts,  on  the  8th  of  December,  1876,  the 
Rev.  Edward  Everett  Hale  rose  in  his  place  on  the 
floor  and  saia*  he  supposed  it  was  known  to  every 
person  present  that  the  distinguished  artist  had  spent 
almost  the  whole  of  his  active  life  in  knotting  those 
ties  which  connected  his  country  with  ours.  It  was 
hoped  that  in  some  future  time  there  would  be 
erected  a  physical  memorial  to  the  early  discoverers 
of  whom  he  had  spoken.  It  was  the  wish  of  those 
about  him  [Mr.  Hale],  at  whose  reqaest  he  spoke, 
that  Boston  should  not  be  behind  in  any  expression 
of  gratitude  to  him  [Ole  Bull]  for  his  work,  as 
well  as  in  expressing  interest  in  our  Norse  ancestors. 
He  was  sure  he  expressed  the  sentiment,  not  only  of 
the  audience,  but  of  all  New  England,  when  he 
spoke  of  the  interest  with  which  he  regarded  his 
countrymen,  whom  they  regarded  as  almost  theirs. 
He  remembered,  although  it  was  nearly  forty  years 
ago,  when  much  such  an  audience  as  he  saw 
about  him  cheered  and  applauded  Edward  Everett, 
when  the  early  discoveries  had  just  been  made,  and 
when  in  one  of  the  last  of  his  public  poems  he 
expressed  the  wish  that  the  great  discoveries  of  Thor- 
vald  might  be  commemorated  by  Thorvald's  great 
descendant,  the  Northern  artist  Thorwaldsen.      The 

*From  report  in  Boston  daily  "AdTertieer." 


PREFACE   TO   THE  NEW   EDITION. 


31 


last  words  of  that  poem  as  they  died  upon  the  ear 

were : 

Thorvald  shall  live  for  aye  in  Thorwaldsen. 

He  [the  speaker]  thought  it  was  a  misfortune  for 
New  England  that  the  great  Northern  artist  died 
before  he  could  accomplish  this  wish.  But  New 
Englanders  had  never  forgotten  it,  and  had  never 
forgotten  their  Norse  ancestors.  It  was  an  enter- 
prise which  ought  to  engage  Massachusetts  men  — 
the  preservation  of  a  physical  memorial  of  Thorvald, 
Leif  and  Thorfinn;  and  he  suggested  that  the  com- 
mittee -jvhich  had  arranged  the  meeting  should  be- 
come a  committee  of  New  England,  in  conjunction 
with  Mr.  Appleton,  to  take  this  matter  in  special 
charge.  Mr.  Hale  put  a  motion  to  this  eifect,  and 
it  was  carried,  and  the  committee  constituted. 

The  committee  of  the  Norsemen  Memorial  includes 
the  highest  civic  officers  of  Boston  and  Massachusetts, 
and  so  many  men  renowned  throughout  the  world  in 
science,  in  letters,  and  in  art,  that  we  cannot  refrain 
from  ornamenting  our  pages  with  their  names.  They 
are,  Thomas  G.  Appleton,  Alexander  H.  Rice,  Sam- 
uel C.  Cobb,  Wm.  Gaston,  Otis  Norcross,  Frederic 
"W.  Lincoln,  Marshall  P.  Wilder,  H.  W.  Paine,  Henry 
A.  Whitney,  Franklin  Haven,  Geo.  C.  Richardson, 


li 


ii:  I 


lili 


iiiiiii 


32 


PREFACE   TO   THE   NEW    EDITION. 


Alpheus  Hardy,  Jos.  B.  Glover,  John  W.  Candler, 
E.  H.  Sampson,  James  R.  Osgood,  Oliver  Ditson, 
Jas.  H.  Danforth,  Curtis  Guild,  "W.  W.  Clapp,  Jerome 
Jones,  George  O.  Carpenter,  Chas.  W.  Wilder,  Dexter 
Smith,  Wm.  Emerson  Baker,  James  W.  Bartlett,  Jos. 
W.  Bobbins,  Ole  Bull,  John  G.  Whittier,  E.  N.  Hors- 
ford,  O.  W.  Holmes,  J.  R.  Lowell,  James  T.  Fields, 
Chas.  W.  Eliot,  G.  W.  Blagden,  Edward  E.  Plale, 
R.  C.  "Waterston,  William  B.  Rogers,  John  D.  Run- 
kle,  Ezra  Farnsworth,  Charles  M.  Clapp,  Joseph  Bur- 
nett, John  P.  Spaulding,  Henry  R.  Reed,  W.  A. 
Simmons,  Wra.  H.  Baldwin,  Percival  L.  Everett,  A. 
B.  Underwood,  Thomas  Sherwin,  Benjamin  Kimball, 
Moses  H.  Sargent,  W.  B.  Sears,  J.  Watson  Taylor, 
Francis  L.  Hills,  secretary. 

This  committee  is. 

First,  To  take  measures  to  erect  a  monument  in 
honor  of  the  Norsemen  who  first  discovered  the  Con- 
tinent of  America,  about  a.d.  1000. 

Second,  For  the  protection  of  the  Dighton  Rock, 
now  in  Taunton  River. 

The  committee  issued,  January  12,  1877,  a  cir- 
cular, of  which  the  following,  relating  to  the  Dighton 
Rock,  is  an  extract : 

The  origin  of  the  inscriptions  cut  on  this  rock 
have  been,  for  several  centuries,  the  study  of  histo- 


PRKFACE   TO  THE   NEW    EDITION. 


33 


Candler, 
r  Ditson, 
p,  Jerome 
r,  Dexter 
tlett,  Jos. 
N.  Hors- 
r.  Fields, 
E.  Hale, 
D.  Run- 
2pli  Bnr- 
,  W.  A. 
erett,  A. 
Kimball, 

Taylor, 


oient  in 
he  Con- 

1  Rock, 

a  cir- 
>ighton 


% 
t 


riaiis.  Professor  Ratn,  and  others,  of  the  Royal 
Sot'ety  of  Northern  Antiquaries,  of  Copenhagen, 
Deniiiark,  were  so  decided  in  their  belief  that  the 
Dighton  Rock  was  inscribed  by  the  Norsemen,  that 
Ole  Bull  requested  Neils  Arnzen  to  purchase  it  for 
that  society,  of  which  the  King  of  Denmark  is  the 
president.  This  committee  regard  the  Dighton  Rock, 
whatever  its  origin,  as  a  valuable  historic  relic  of 
American  antiquity,  and  have  taken  measures  to 
obtain  the  title  to  ii,  in  order  to  protect  and  remove 
it  to  Boston.  They  invite  the  deductions  of  all 
historic  researchers  as  to  the  authenticity  of  these 
inscriptions.* 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Boston  committee 
will  provide  for  a  monument  in  honor  of  the  Norse 
discoverers  and  for  the  preservation  of  Dighton  Rock, 
and  we  are  informed  that  a  handsome  sum  of  money 
has  already  been  raised  for  these  purposes.  At  all 
events,  it  is  now  certain  that  Ole  Bull's  long  cher- 
ished plans  will  be  realized  ;  and  the  people  of  Boston 
are  doing  themselves  and  their  great  city  great  credit 
in  reviving  and  perpetuating  the  memory  of  those 

♦An  impression  of  the  Dighton  Rock  inscriptions,  talcen  in  1790,  is 
preserved  in  Harvard  University.  DrawingH  made  in  1680  can  be  found  in 
the  ''Antiquitates  Americance."  This  worlc  records  the  inscriptions  as  Norse, 
and  describes  it  as  conforming  to  Icelandic  Sagas  acconnt  of  "  Thorflun's 
Expedition  to  Viuland"  (Mass-^chusetts). 

[Copies  of  the  photograph  of  Dighton  Rock,  taken  in  1876  by  order 
of  the  special  agent  of  the  United  States  government,  may  be  obtained  ft 
the  office  of  the  secretary  of  the  committee,  No.  13  West  street,  Boston.] 


34 


PREFACE  TO  THE   NEW    EDITION. 


who  first  of  all  Christians  planted  their  feet  on 
the  soil  of  Massachusetts,  and  built  the  first  cabins 
(Leif's  Booths)  in  New  England. 

In  sending  out  this  second  edition  of  our  book 
we  may  be  pardoned  for  again  pleading  the  cause 
of  the  Norsemen  and  hoping  that  the  time  may 
soon  come  when  the  names  of  Leif  Erikson,  Bjarne 
Herjulfson,  Thorvald  Erikson  (who,  by  the  way,  has 
recently  been  immortalized  in  Longfellow's  "Skele- 
ton in  Armor"),  Thorfinn  Karlsefne,  Gudridj  Erik 
Upsi,  Are  Marson,  Bjorn  Asbrandson  (the  champion 
of  Breidavik)  and  Gudleif  Gudlaugson  shall  have 
become  household  words  in  every  house  and  hamlet 

ft/ 

in  these  United  States.  Let  every  child  learn  the 
stories  about  the  Norse  discoverers  of  Vinland  the 
Good. 

University  of  Wisconsin, 

Madison,  Wis.,  April  8, 1877. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  NORSEMEN,  AND  OTHER  PEOPLES,   INTERESTED 
IN  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA. 

rriHE  object  of  the  following  pages  is  to  present 
-*-  the  reader  with  a  brief  account  of  the  discovery 
of  early  voyages  to  and  settlements  in  the  Western 
Continent  by  the  Norsemen,  and  to  prove  that  Co- 
lumbus must  have  had  knowledge  of  this  discovery 
by  the  Norsemen  before  he  started  to  find  America ; 
and  the  author  will  not  be  surprised,  if,  in  these 
})ages,  he  should  happen  to  throw  out  some  thoughts 
which  will  conflict  with  the  reader's  previously- 
formed  convictions  about  matters  and  things  gen- 
erally, aiiji  about  historical  facts  especially. 

The  interest  manifested  by  the  reader  of  history 
is  always  greater  the  nearer  the  history  which  he 
reads  is  connected  with  his  own  country  or  with 
his  own  ancestors. 

The  American  student,  on  the  one  hand,  loves 
to  dwell  upon  the  pages  of  American  history.    He 


'in 


ii      I 


'I 


36 


AMERICA    NOT    DI80OVEKKI)    BY    COLUMBUS. 


adiiiircB  the  resolution,  the  fortitude  and  persever- 
ance of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  as  they  passed  through 
their  varied  scenes  of  hardship  and  adversity  when 
they  made  their  tirst  settlement  upon  onr  New 
England  shores;  and  his  whole  soul  is  filled  with 
transporting  emotions  of  delight  or  sympathy  as  he 
reads  the  thrilling  incidents  of  the  sufferings  and 
the  victories  of  his  countrymen  who  fought  for  his 
as  well  as  for  their  own  freedom  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary war. 

The  Norse  student,  on  the  other  hand,  takes 
special  pleasure  in  perusing  the  old  Sagas  and  Ed- 
das,  and  following  the  Vikings  on  their  daring  but 
victorious  expeditions  through  European  waters ;  and 
he  draws  inspiration  from  those  beautiful  and  poet- 
ical ancient  myths  and  stories  about  Odin,  Thor, 
Baldur,  Loke,  the  Giant  Ymer,  Ragnarok,  Yg- 
drasil,  and  that  innumerable  host  of  godlike  heroes 
that  illuminate  the  pages  of  his  people's  ancient 
history,  and  glitter  like  bri^^'ant  diamonds  in  the 
dust  and  darkness  of  by^rone  ages. 

The  subject  to  which  your  attention  is  invited, 
the  Discovery  of  Amerioa^  is,  if  properly  presented, 
of  equal  interest  to  Americans  and  Norsemen.  For 
those  who  are  born  and  brought  up  on  the  fertile 
aoil  of  Columbia,  under  the  shady  branches  of  the 


nil      : 


I  i 


AMKRKJA    XOr    DIS0(>VP:KED    by    ('OLUMBUB. 


X 


noble  tree  of  American  liberty,  where  the  banner 
of  progress  and  education  is  unfurled  to  the  breeze, 
must  naturally  feel  a  deep  interest  in  whatever 
tacts  may  be  presented  in  relation  to  the  iirst  dis- 
covery and  early  settlement  of  this  their  native  land ; 
while  those  who  first  saw  the  sunlight  beaming 
among  the  rugged,  snow-capped  mountains  of  old 
Norway,  and  can  still  feel  any  of  the  heroic  blood 
of  their  dauntless  forefathers  course  its  way  through 
their  veins,  must,  as  a  matter  of  course,  feel  an 
equally  deep  interest  in  learning  that  their  own 
ancestors,  the  intrepid  Norsemen,  were  the  first  pale- 
faced  men  who  planted  their  feet  on  this  gem  of  the 
ocean,  and  an  interest,  too,  I  dare  say,  in  having 
the  claims  of  their  native  country  to  this  honor 
vindicated. 

The  subject  is  not  without  special  interest  to  the 
Germans^  as  it  will  appear  in  the  course  of  this 
sketch  that  a  German,*  who  accompanied  the  Norse- 
men on  their  first  expedition  to  this  Western  World, 
is  intimately  connected  with  the  first  name  of  this 
country;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  a  German,t 
through  his  writings  about  the  Norsemen,  was  the 
means  of  bringing  to  Columbus  valuable  information 
about  America. 

The  Welsh  also  have  an  interest  in  this  subject; 

*  Tyrtter.  t  Adam  of  Bremen. 


b8 


AMERICA   NOT    DI8C0VKKED   BY   COLUMBUS. 


for  it  is  generally  believed,  and  not  without  reason, 
that  their  ancestors,  under  the  leadership  of  Madoc, 
made  a  settlement  in  this  country  about  the  year 
1170 ;  thus,  although  they  were  170  years  later 
than  the  Norsemen  in  making  the  discovery,  they 
were  still  322  years  ahead  of  Columbus,  and  Norse- 
men, therefore,  claim  in  this  question,  Welshmen's 
sympathies  against  Columbus. 

We  might  enlist  the  interest  of  Irishmen,  too,  in 
the  presentation  of  this  subject;  for,  in  the  year 
1029,  (according  to  an  account  in  the  Eykbyggja 
Saga,  Chapter  64,)  a  Norse  navigator,  by  name 
GuDLEiF  GuDLAUGSON,  uudcrtook  a  voyage  to  Dub- 
lin, and  on  leaving  Ireland  again  he  intended  to 
sail  to  Iceland ;  but  he  met  with  northeast  winds 
and  was  driven  far  to  the  west  and  southwest  in 
the  sea,  where  no  land  was  to  be  seen.  It  was 
already  late  in  the  summer,  and  Gudleif,  with  his 
party,  made  many  prayers  that  they  might  escape 
from  the  sea.  And  it  came  to  pass,  says  the  Saga, 
that  they  saw  land,  but  they  knew  not  what  land 
it  was.  Then  they  resolved  to  sail  to  the  land,  for 
they  were  weary  with  contending  longer  with  the 
violence  of  the  sea.  They  found  there  a  good  har- 
bor, and  when  they  had  been  a  short  time  on  shore, 
there  came  some  people  to  them.    They  knew  none 


ir 


li  i 


AMERICA    NOT   DISCOVERED   BY    COLUMBUS. 


39 


of  the  people,  but  it  "  raiher  appeared  to  them  that 
they  spoke  Irish.'''' 

This  portion  of  America,  supposed  to  be  situated 
south  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  including  North  and 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  East  Florida,  is  in 
the  Saga  of  Thorfinn  Karlsefne,  chapter  13,  called 
"  Irland-it-Mikla^''  that  is,  Great  Ireland.  It  is 
claimed  that  the  name.  Great  Ireland^  arose  from 
the  fact  that  the  country  had  been  colonized,  long 
before  GudlaiLgsovb  s  visit,  by  the  Irish,  and  that, 
they  coming  from  their  own  green  island  to  a  vast 
continent  possessing  many  of  the  fertile  qualities  of 
their  own  native  soil,  the  appellation  was  natural  and 
appropriate.  There  is  nothing  improbable  in  this 
conclusion;  for  the  Irish,  who  visited  and  inhabited 
Iceland  toward  the  close  of  the  eighth  century,  to 
accomplish  which  they  had  to  traverse  a  stormy  ocean 
to  the  extent  of  eight  hundred  miles  —  who,  as  early 
as  725,  were  found  upon  the  Faroe  Isles  —  and  whose 
voyages  between  Ireland  and  Iceland,  in  the  tenth 
century,  were  of  ordinary  occurrence  —  a  people  so 
familiar  with  the  sea  were  certainly  capable  of  making 
a  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  ocean. 

I  cannot  here  enter  upon  any  further  discussion 
of  the  claims  of  the  Irish,  but  you  observe  that  this 
subject   of   discovering   America  cannot  be  treated 


ii!l 


{        p 


!l 


40 


AMERICA   NOT   DISCOVERED   BY    COLUMBUS. 


exhaustively  without    bringing    back    to   the    mind 

fond  recollections  of  the  Emerald  Isle,  which  was 

once  the  School  of  Western  Europe,  and  her  brave 

sons 

"  Inciyta  gens  hominum,  milite,  pace,  fide," 

as  Bishop  Donatus  somewhere  has  it. 


CHAPTER  II. 


NORSE  LITERATURE  HAS  BEEN   NEGLECTED  BY  THE 
LEARNED  MEN  OF  THE  GREAT  NATIONS. 


TpNLIGHTENED  men  all  over  the  world  are 
-*— "^  watching,  with  astonishment  and  admiration, 
the  New  World,  from  which  great  revolutions  have 
proceeded,  and  in  which  great  problems  in  liuman 
government,  human  progress  and  enterprise,  are  yet 
to  be  worked  out  and  demonstrated. 

People  are  everywhere  eagerly  observing  every 
event  that  takes  place  in  America,  making  it  the 
subject  of  the  most  careful  scrutiny,  and  the  results, 
wonderful  as  they  are,  everywhere  awaken  the  most 
intense  interest.  If  you  travel  in  England,  in  Ger- 
many, in  Norway,  or  in  any  of  the  North-European 
■"onntries,  it  is  interesting  to  observe  how  familiar 
.'  '  Dmmon  people  are  with  matters  and  things  per- 
tain nig  to  America.  They  not  only  know  America 
better  than  they  know  their  border  countries,  but 
there  also  are  found  not  a  few  who  keep  themselves 
l)etter  posted    on    the   affairs  of   America  than    on 

those  of  their  own  country. 
2* 


Iliiiil! 


42 


AMERICA    NOT   DISt;OVERED   BY    COLUMBUS. 


11' 


,;i!:    I 


lliiiil 


M 


11 


il 


;  i 
I  I  1 

ill  I  i  I 


Until  recently,  it  has  generally  been  supposed 
that  America  was  wholly  unknown  to  European  na- 
tions previous  to  the  time  of  Columbus;  but  investi- 
gations by  learned  men  have  made  it  certain,  beyond 
the  shadow  of  a  doubt,  that  the  Europeans  did  have 
knowledge  of  this  country  long  before  the  time  of 
Columbus,  and  it  has  even  been  claimed,  on  quite 
plausible  grounds,  that  some  of  the  nations  living 
here  at  the  time  of  Columbus'  discovery  of  this  con- 
tinent were  descendants  of  Europeans. 

As  yet  but  few  scholars  have  turned  their  atten- 
tion to  the  North  of  Europe  in  relation  to  this 
subject,  and  Lencc  the  light  which  this  extreme 
portion  of  the  globe  could  give  has  hitherto  been, 
in  a  great  measure,  neglected  by  the  learned  men 
of  the  great  nations ;  and  yet  the  antiquities  of  the 
North  furnish  a  series  of  incontestable  evidence  that 
the  coast  of  North  America  was  discovered  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  tenth  century,  immediately  after 
the  discovery  of  Greenland  by  the  Norsemen ;  fur- 
thermore, that  this  same  coast  was  visited  repeatedly 
by  the  Norsemen  in  the  eleventh  century;  further- 
more, that  it  was  visited  by  them  in  the  twelfth 
century;  nay,  ako,  that  it  was  found  again  by  them 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  revisited  in  the  four- 
teenth  century.     But  even  this  is  not  all.    These 


AMERICA   NOT   DISCOVERED    BY    COLUMBUS. 


43 


Northern  antiquities  also  show  that  Christianity  had 
been  introduced  in  America,  not  only  among  the 
Norsemen,  who  formed  a  settlement  here,  but  also 
among  the  aborigines,  or  native  population,  that  tlie 
Norsemen  found  here. 

The  learned  men  of  the  North  are  not  to  blame 
that  this  matter  has  not  previously  received  due 
attention,  for  ToRFyEUS  published  an  account  thereof 
as  early  as  the  year  1705,  and  besides  him  Suhm 
and  ScHOENiNG  and  Lagerbring  and  Wormsk.told 
and  ScHRtEDER,  to  say  nothing  of  many  others, 
have  all  presented  the  main  facts  in  their  historical 
works.  But  other  nations  paid  no  attention  to  all 
this.  Not  until  1837,  when  the  celebrated  Pro- 
fessor Rafn,  through  the  laudable  enterprise  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  Northern  Antiquities,  published 
his  learned,  interesting  and  important  work,*  could 
scholars  outside  of  Scandinavia  be  induced  to  examine 
the  claims  of  the  Norsemen.  Professor  Rafn  suc- 
ceeded, and  he  has  perhaps  dene  more  than  any 
other  one  man  to  call  the  attention  of  other  nations 
to  the  importance  of  studying  the  Old  Norse  lite- 
rature. Thus  it  is  that  scholars  of  other  nations 
recently  have  begun  to  direct  their  attention  to 
Northern  Antiquities,  Northern  Languages  and  His- 


I 


m 


*  Antiquitates  Americanse,  Ilafniae,  1837. 


11! """! 


I  -'I  -    "i 


|i.:''l  :[' 


I 


u 


AMERICA    NOT    DISCOVERED    BY    COIiUMBLS. 


tory.  Germany  and  England,  and  I  would  like  to 
add  America,  are  now  beginning  to  realize  how 
much  valuable  material  is  to  be  found  in  these 
sources  for  elucidating  the  history  and  institutions 
of  other  contemporary  nations ;  and  especially  do  the 
early  Sagas  of  the  Korth  throw  much  important  light 
on  the  character  of  English  and  German  institutions 
during  the  middle  ages.  The  English  and  Germans 
are  translating  the  Sagas  as  fast  as  they  can.  Pro- 
fessors KoNRAD  Maurer  and  Tii.  Moebius  are  doing- 
excellent  work  at  their  respective  Universities  in 
Germany;  Oxford  and  Cambridge  in  England  have 
each  an  Icelandic  Professor,  and  several  American 
Universities  give  instruction  in  the  Northern  lan- 
guages. 

It  is  indeed  an  encouraging  fact  that  these  great 
nations  are  gradually  bp'*oming  conscious  of  the 
importance  of  studying  the  Northern  languages  and 
literature,  and  we  may  safely  hope  that  the  time  is 
not  far  distant  when  the  Norsemen  will  be  recog- 
nized in  their  right  social,  political  and  literary 
character,  and  at  the  same  time  as  navigators  assume 
their  true  position  in  the  pre-Columbian  discoveiy 
of  America. 


!M 


: . 


CHAPTER  III. 


■•■, 


i 


ANTIQUITY  OF  AMERICA. 


'H 


"DEFOKE  the  plains  of  Europe  rose  above 
-^-^  primeval  seas,  the  continent  of  America,  accord- 
ing to  Louis  Agassiz,  emerged  from  the  watery 
waste  that  encircled  the  whole  globe  and  became 
the  scene  of  animal  life.  Hence  the  so-called  New 
World  is  in  reality  the  Old,  and  Agassiz  gives 
abundant  proof  of  its  hoary  age. 

But  who  is  able  even  to  conjecture  at  what 
period  it  became  the  abode  of  man?  Down  to  the 
close  of  the  tenth  century  its  written  history  is 
vague  and  uncertain.  We  can  find  traces  of  a  rude 
civilization  that  suggest  a  very  high  antiquity.  We 
can  show  mounds,  monuments,  and  inscriptions,  that 
point  to  periods,  the  contemplation  of  which  would 
make  Chronos  iiimself  grow  giddy ;  yet  among  all 
these  great  and  often  impressive  memorials  there 
is  no  monument,  mound,  or  inscription,  that  solves 
satisfactorily  the  mystery  of  their  origin.  There  are 
but  few  traditions  even  to  aid  us  in  our  researches. 


i  I 


46 


AMERICA    NOT    DISCOVERED   BY    COLUMBUb. 


and  we  can  only  infer  that  age  after  age  nations 
and  tribes  have  continued  to  rise  into  greatness 
and  then  decline  and  fall,  and  that  barbarism  and 
a  rude  culture  have  held  alternate  sway.* 

*  Compare  De  Costa,  page  11. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


PHENICIAN,  GREEK,  IRISH  AND  WELSH  CLAIMS. 

TN  early  times  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  like  all  other 
things  without  known  bounds,  was  viewed  by 
man  with  mixed  feelings  of  fear  and  awe.  It  was 
usually  called  the  Sea  of  Darkness. 

The  Phenician,  and  especially  Tyrian  voyages  to 
the  Western  Continent,  in  early  times,  have  been 
warmly  advocated ;  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that 
the  original  inhabitants  of  the  American  continent 
crossed  the  Atlantic  instead  of  piercing  the  icy 
regions  of  the  north  and  coming  by  the  way  of 
Behring's  Strait.  From  the  Canaries,  which  were 
discovered  and  colonized  by  the  Phenicians,  it  is  a 
short  voyage  to  America,  and  the  bold  sailors  of 
the  Mediterranean,  after  touching  at  these  islands, 
could  easily  and  safely  be  wafted  to  the  western 
shore. 

That  the  Greek  philosopher,  Pytheas,  whose  dis- 
coveries about  the  different  length  of  the  days  in 
various  climates  appeared  so  astonishing  to  the  other 


48 


AMERICA    NOT    T)IkCOVERED   BY    COLUMBUS. 


I'M 


iii^i 


''■:| 


I 


philosophers  of  his  age,  traversed  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
about  340  years  before  Christ,  can  scarcely  be  doubted. 
He  certainly  discovered  Thule  *  (Iceland),  and  deter- 
mined its  latitude,  and  we  may  at  least  say  that  by 
this  discovery  he  opened  the  way  to  America  foi* 
the  Norsemen. 

Claims  have  been  made,  as  I  have  already  shown, 
both  by  the  Irish  and  by  the  Welsh,  that  they 
crossed  the  Atlantic  and  found  America  before 
Columbus,  but  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  comment 
upon  these  claims  in  this  short  sketch.  Much 
learned  discussion  has  been  devoted  to  the  subject, 
but  the  early  history  of  the  American  continent  is 
still,  to  a  great  extent,  veiled  in  mystery,  and  not 
until  near  the  close  of  the  tenth  century  of  the 
present  era  can  we  point,  with  absolute  certainty, 
to  a  genuine  transatlantic  vovajye. 

*  See  Strabo'8  Geojiraphy.  Book  H.  §  6. 


CHAPTER  V. 


WHO  WERE  THE  NORSEMEN? 


rriHE  first  voyage  to  America,  of  which  we  have 
any  perfectly  reliable  account,  was  performed 
by  the  Norsemen. 

But  who  were  the  Norsemen  ?  Permit  me  to 
answer  this  question  briefly. 

The  Norsemen  ^ere  the  descendants  of  a  branch 
of  the  Teutonic  race  that,  in  early  times,  emigrated 
from  Asia  and  traveled  westward  and  northward, 
finally  settling  down  in  what  is  now  the  west  cen- 
tral part  of  the  kingdom  of  Norway.  Their  lan- 
guage was  the  Old  Norse,  which  is  still  preserved 
and  spoken  in  Iceland,  and  upon  it  are  founded  the 
modern  Norse,  Danish  and  Swedish  languages. 

The  ancient  Norsemen  were  a  bold  and  inde- 
pendent people.  They  were  a  free  people.  Their 
lulers  were  elected  by  the  people  in  convention 
assembled,  and  all  public  matters  of  importance  were 
decided  in  the  assemblies,  or  open  parliaments  of 
the  people. 

Abroad    they    became    the    most    daring    adven- 


8 


II  .' 


II   ' 


00 


AMERICA    N(Vr   DISCOVERED   BY   COLUMBUS. 


turers.  They  made  themselves  known  in  every 
part  of  tlie  civilized  world  by  their  daring  as  sol- 
diers and  navigators.  They  spread  themselves  along 
the  shores  of  Europe,  making  conquests  and  plant- 
ing colonies. 

In  their  conquering  expeditions  they  subdued  a 
large  portion  of  England,  wrested  Normandy,  the 
fairest  province  of  France,  from  the  French  king, 
conquered  a  considerable  portion  of  Belgium,  and 
made  extensive  inroads  into  Spain.  Under  Robert 
Guiscard  they  made  themselves  masters  of  Sicily 
and  lower  Italy  in  the  eleventh  century,  and  main- 
tiiined  their  power  there  for  a  long  time.  During 
the  Crusades  they  led  the  van  of  the  chivalry  of 
Europe  in  rescuing  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  ruled 
over  Antioch  and  Tiberias  under  Harald.  They 
passed  between  the  pillars  of  Hercules,  they  deso- 
lated the  classic  fields  of  Greece  and  penetrated  the 
walls  of  Constantinople. 

Straying  away  into  the  distant  east,  from  where 
they  originally  came,  we  find  them  laying  the 
foundations  of  the  Russian  Empire,  swinging  their 
two-edged  battle-axes  in  the  streets  of  Constantino- 
ple, where  they  served  as  the  leaders  of  the  Greek 
Emperor's  body-guard,  and  the  main  support  of  his 
tottering  throne.     They   carved   their  mystic  runes 


AMERICA    NOT    DISCOVERED    BY    COLUMBUS. 


51 


nj)0]i  the  marble  lion*  in  the  harbor  of  Athens 
in  conimemoration  of  their  conquest  of  this  city. 
The  old  Norse  Vikings  sailed  up  the  rivers  Rhine, 
Schelde,  the  Seine  and  Loire,  conquering  Cologne 
and  Aachen,  where  they  turned  the  emperor's  palace 
into  a  stable,  filling  the  heart  of  even  the  great 
Charlemagne  with  dismay. 

The  rulers  of  England  are  descendants  of  the 
Norsemen.  Ganger  Rolf,  known  in  English  history 
by  the  name  Rollo,  a  son  of  Harald  Ilaarfagr's 
friend,  Ragnvald  Morejarl,  invaded  France  in  the 
year  912  and  took  possession  of  Normandy ;  and  in 
1066,  at  the  battle  of  Hastings,  William  the  Con- 
queror, a  great-grandson  of  Ganger  Rolf,  conquered 
England ;  and  it  is  proper  to  add,  that  from  this  con- 
quest the  pride  and  glory  of  Great  Britain  descended. 

It  is  also  a  noticeable  fact,  that  the  most  serious 
opposition  that  William  the  Conqueror  met  with 
came  from  colonists  of  his  own  race,  who  had  set- 
tled in  Northumbria.  Ke  wasted  their  lands  with 
fire  and  sword,  and  drove  them  beyond  the  border; 
but  still  we  find  their  energy,  their  perseverance 
and  their  speech  existing  in  the  north  English  and 
lowland  Scotch  dialects. 

♦  The  marble  lion  upon  which  they  carved  their  runes  was  afterward 
taken  to  Venice  and  erected  at  the  entrance  of  the  arBenal,  where  it  may 
be  seen  at  the  present  time. 


,.f.  ■'.' 


CHAPTER  VI. 


ICELAND. 


«■ 


"XDUT  Europe  did  not  set  bounds  to  the  voyages 
-*— ^  and  enterprises  of  the  Norsemen.  In  the  year 
800  they  discovered  Iceland,  and  soon  afterward  (874) 
established  upon  this  island  a  republic,  which  flour- 
ished four  hundred  years,  "^he  Icelandic  republic 
furnishes  the  very  best  evidence  of  the  independent 
spirit  which  characterized  the  Norsemen. 

Political  circumstances  in  Norway  urged  many 
of  the  boldest  and  most  independent  people  in  the 
country  to  seek  an  asylum  of  freedom.  Harald 
Haarfagr  (i.  e.  tlie  Fair-haired)  had  determined  to 
make  hir.self  monarch  of  all  Norway.  He  was 
iniLitigated  to  unite  Norwi[iy  under  his  scepter  by 
the  ambition  of  the  fair  and  proud  Ragna  Adils- 
DATTER  (daughter),  whom  he  loved  and  courted; 
but  she  declared  that  the  man  she  married  would 
have  to  be  king  of  all  Norway.  Harald  accepted 
the  conditions;  and  after  twelve  years'  hard  fight- 
ing, during  which  time  he  neither  cut  nor  combed 


AMEBICA   NOT   DI8C0VEEED   BY   COLJMBU! 


53 


his  hair  once,*  in  the  year  872,  at  the  battle  of 
Hafersfjord,  Norway  became  united  into  one  king- 
dom, instead  of  being  divided  into  thirty-one  small 
republics,  as  had  been  the  case  before  that  time. 

Harald  had  subdued  or  slain  the  numerous  leaders, 
and  had  passed  a  law  abolishing  all  freehold  tenure 
of  property, t  usurping  it  for  the  crown.  To  this 
the  proud  freemen  of  Norway  would  not  submit. 
Disdaining  to  yield  their  ancient  independence  and 
be  degraded,  they  resolved  to  leave  those  lands  and 
homes,  which  they  could  now  scarcely  call  their  own. 
and  set  out  with  their  families  and  followers  in  quest 
of  new  seats.  There  were  as  great  emigrations  from 
Norway  in  those  days  as  there  are  now.  The  Norse 
spirit  of  enterprise  is  as  old  as  their  history. 

Whither  then  should  they  go,  Y»^as  the  question. 

Some  went  to  the  Hebrides,  ot^iers  to  the  Orkney 
Isles;  soma  to  the  Shetland  and  Faroe  Isles;  many 
went  as  Vikings  to  England,  Scotland  and  France; 
but  by  far  the  g>  eater  number  went  to  he  more 
distant  and  therefore  more  secure  Iceland,  which 
had  been  discovered  by  the  celebrated  Norse  Viking 

*  He  made  a  pledge  to  Ragna  that  he  would  neither  cat  nor  comb  his 
hair  until  he  I'lad  subju'^uied  all  Norway. 

t  This  Bo-ct  Ucd  ndal,  [Icel.  Adal,  Norse  odel,  allodium,]  {.  e.  independent 
tenure  of  property,  was  gireu  back  to  the  Norsemen  by  King  Hakon  the 
Good  in  the  year  935,  and  hat)  never  uinc^  been  taken  away  from  :bem. 


54 


AMERICA    NOT    DISCOVERED    BY    COLUMBUS. 


wm 


Naddodd  in  860,  pnd  called  by  him  Snowlaud;  re- 
discovered by  Gardar,  of  bwedisli  extraction,  in  864, 
after  whom  it  was  called  Gardar's  Holm  (island), 
and  visited  by  two  Norsemen,  Ingolf  and  Leif 
(Hjorleifr)  in  870,  by  whom  it  was  called  Iceland. 
This  emigration  from  Norway  to  Iceland  began  in 
the  year  874,  now  more  than  a  thousand  years  ago ; 
and  thus  this  strange  island  was  peopled  —  and  in  a 
few  years  peopled  to  a  surprising  extent.  It  was  not 
long  before  it  had  upward  of  50,000  inhabitants. 
You  must  bear  in  mind  that  this  colonization  was 
on  an  island  in  the  cold  North  Sea,  a  little  below 
the  Arctic  Circle.  It  was  in  a  climate  where  grain 
refused  to  ripen,  and  where  the  people  often  were 
obliged  to  shake  the  snow  off  the  frozen  hay  before 
they  could  carry  it.  Fishing,  the  main  support  of 
the  people,  was  often  obstructed  by  ice  from  the 
polar  regions  filling  their  harbors,  and  the  whole 
island  presented  a  most  melancholy  aspect  of  desola- 
tion. But  still  the  people  continued  to  flock  thither 
and  become  attached  to  the  soil.  They  were  sur- 
rounded the  whole  year  by  dreary  ice-mountains,  the 
glare  of  volcanic  flames,  and  the  roaring  of  geysers 
or  boiling  springs.  Still  they  loved  this  wild  coun- 
try, because  they  were  free;  and  through  the  long 
winters,  when  the  sun  nearly  or  entirely  disappeared 


'  ■-■! 

'  'I 


AMERICA    NOT   DISCOVERED    BY    COLUMBUS. 


65 


from  above  the  horizon,  and  nothing  but  northern 
lights  flickered  over  their  heads,  they  seemed  only 
the  more  thrown  npon  their  intellectual  resources, 
and  passed  the  time  in  reciting  the  Eddas  and  Sagas 
of  their  ancestors. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  beg  your  pardon  for  dwelling 
so  long  upon  the  subject  of  Iceland ;  but  my  apol- 
ogy is  that,  in  the  first  place,  Iceland  is  of  itself  an 
exceedingly  interesting  country ;  and,  in  the  next 
place,  it  is  really  the  hinye  upon  ivhich  the  door 
swings  which  opened  America  to  Europe.  This 
island  had  been  visited  by  Pytheas  340  years  before 
Christ;  and,  according  to  the  Irish  monk  Dicuilus, 
who  wrote  a  geography  in  the  year  825,  it  had  been 
visited  by  some  Irish  priests  in  the  summer  of  795.* 
It  was  the  settlement  of  Iceland  bv  the  Norsemen, 
and  the  constant  voyages  between  this  island  and 
Norway,  that  led  to  the  discovery,  first  of  Greenland 
and  then  of  America;  and  it  is  due  to  the  high 
intellectual  standing  and  fine  historical  taste  of  the 
Icelanders  that  records  of  these  voyages  were  kept, 
flrst  to  instruct  Columbus  how  to  find  America,  and 
afterward  to  solve  for  us  the  mysteries  concerning 
the  discovery  of  this  continent. 

Iceland  is  a  small  island,  in  the  65th  deg.  north 

*  Vid.  Oicuilua,  De  Meusura  Orbia  Teme,  ed.  Latronuti,  p.  38. 


56 


AMERICA    NOT    DISCOVERED    BY    COLUMBUS. 


I   MiM^ 


i'i  •;-  .ft 


latitude,  of  about  1,800  geographical  square  miles. 
Its  valleys  are  almost  without  verdure,  and  its 
mountains  without  trees.  Still,  it  contains,  even  at 
the  present  time,  no  less  than  70,000  inhabitants, 
who  live  a  peaceable  and  contented  life,  still  cling- 
ing to  their  ancient  language,  and  studying  foreign 
languages,  science,  philosophy,  and  history,  as  we  do 
who  live  in  milder  and  more  favored  climes.  Now, 
as  in  olden  times,  the  earth  trembles  in  the  throes 
of  the  earthquake, —  the  geysers  still  spout  their 
scalding  water,  and  the  plain  belches  forth  mud, — 
while  the  grand  old  jokul,*  Mount  Hekla,  clad  in 
white  rgbes  of  eternal  snow,  brandishes  aloft  its 
volcanic  torch,  as  if  threatening  to  set  the  very 
heavens  on  fire. 

For  ages  Iceland  was  destined  to  become  the  sanc- 
tuary and  preserver  of  the  grand  old  literature  of  the 
North.  Paganism  prevailed  there  more  than  a  cen- 
tury after  the  island  became  inhabited;  the  old  tra- 
ditions were  cherished  and  committed  to  memory, 
and  shortly  after  the  introduction  of  Christianity 
the  Old  Norse  literature  was  put  in  writing. 

The  ancient  literature  and  traditions  of  Iceland 
excel  anything  of  their  kind  in  Europe  during  the 
middle  ages.     The  Icelandic  poems  have  no  parallel 

'*  MountainB  covered  with  perpvtual  hdow  are  called  "  j6kuls  "  in  Iceland. 


AMERICA    NOT    DISCOVERED   BY    COLUMBUS. 


57 


in  all  the  treasures  of  ancient  literature.  There  are 
gigantic  proportions  about  them,  and  great  and  over- 
whelming tragedies  in  them,  which  rival  those  ot 
Greece.  The  early  literature  of  Iceland  is  now  fast 
becoming  recognized  as  equal  to  that  of  ancient 
Greece  and  Rome. 

The  original  Teutonic  life  lived  longer  and  more 
independently  in  Norway,  and  especially  in  Iceland, 
than  elsewhere,  and  had  more  favorable  opportuni- 
ties to  grow  and  mature  ;  and  the  Icelandic  literature 

^  As  the  full-blown  flower  of  Teutonic  heathendom. 
This  Teutonic  heathendom,  with  its  beautiful  and 
poetical  mythology,  was  rooted  out  by  superstitious 

^^priests  in  Germany,  and  the  other  countries  inhab- 
ited by  Teutonic  peoples,  before  it  had  developed 
sufficiently  to  produce  blossoms,  excepting  in  Eng- 
land, where  a  kindred  branch  of  the  Gothic  race 
rose  to  eminence  in  letters,  and  produced  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  literature. 


I'M 


CHAPTER  VII. 


GREENLAND. 

T3UT,  as  time  passed  on,  the  people  of  Iceland 
-*~^  felt  a  new  impulse  for  colonizing  new  and 
strange  lands,  and  the  tide  of  emigration  began  to 
tend  with  irresistible  force  toward  Greenland,  in 
the  west,  which  country  also  became  settled  in  spite 
of  its  wretched  climate. 

The  discovery  of  Greenland  was  a  natural  con- 
sequence of  the  settlement  of  Iceland,  just  as  the 
discovery  of  America  afterward  was  a  natural  con- 
sequence of  the  settlement  of  Greenland.  Between 
the  western  part  of  Iceland  and  the  eastern  part  of 
Greenland  there  is  a  distance  of  only  forty-iive 
geographical  miles.  Hence,  some  of  the  ships  that 
sailed  to  Iceland,  at  the  time  of  the  settlement  of 
this  island  and  later,  could  in  case  of  a  violent  east 
wind,  which  is  no  rare  occurrence  in  those  regions, 
scarcely  avoid  approaching  the  coast  of  Greenland 
sufficiently  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  its  jokuls, —  nay, 
even  to  land  on  its  islands  and  promontories.    Thus 


AMBRICA    NOT   DISCOVERED   BT   COLUMBUS. 


59 


it  is  said  that  Giiniibjorn,  Ulf  Krage's  son,  saw  land 
lying  in  the  ocean  at  the  west  of  Iceland,  when,  in 
the  year  876,  he  was  driven  out  to  the  sea  by  a 
storm.  Similar  reports  were  heard,  from  time  to 
time,  by  other  mariners.  About  a  century  later  a 
certain  man,  by  name  Erik  the  Red,  had  iied  from 
the  Jader,  in  Norway,  on  account  of  manslaughter, 
and  had  settled  in  the  western  part  of  Iceland. 
Here  he  also  was  outlawed  for  manslaughter,  by 
the  public  assembly,  and  condemned  to  banishment. 
He  therefore  fitted  out  his  ship,  and  resolved  to 
go  in  search  of  the  land  in  the  west  that  Gunnbjorn 
and  others  had  seen.  He  set  sail  in  the  year  984, 
and  found  the  land  as  he  had  expected,  and  re- 
mained there  exploring  the  country  for  two  years. 
At  the  end  of  this  period  he  returned  to  Iceland, 
giving  the  newly-discovered  country  the  name  of 
Greenland,  in  order,  as  he  said,  to  attract  settlers, 
who  would  be  favorably  impressed  with  so  pleasing 
a  name. 

The  result  was  that  many  Icelanders  and  Norse- 
men emigrated  to  Greenland,  and  a  flourishing 
colony  was  established,  with  C^ardar  for  its  capital 
city,  which  in  the  year  1261,  became  subject  to  the 
crown  of  Norway.  The  Greenland  colony  main- 
tained its  connection  with  the  mother  countries  for 


60 


AMERICA    NOT   DISCOVERED   BY    COLUMBUS. 


a  period  of  no  less  than  400  years ;    yet  it  finally 

disappeared,    and    was    almost    forgotten.  Toiiteus 

gives  a    list    of   seventeen    bishops    who  ruled    in 
Greenland. 


in 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


THE   SHIPS  OF  THE  NORSEMEN. 


TDEFORE  following  the  Norsemen  farther  on 
-'— ^  their  westward  course,  it  may  not  be  out  of 
place  to  say  a  few  words  about  their  ships.  Having 
crossed  the  briny  deep  four  times  myself,  I  have 
seen  something  of  what  is  required  in  order  to  ven- 
ture with  safety  on  so  long  watery  journeys.  I  have 
also  seen  one  of  the  old  Norse  Viking  ships,  which 
is  preserved  at  the  University  of  Norway,  and  it 
seemed  to  me  an  excellent  one  both  in  respect  to 
form  and  size.  Now,  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the 
old  Norsemen  possessed  such  ocean  crafts  as  now 
plow  the  deep  between  New  York  and  Liverpool; 
but  what  I  mean  to  say  is  this,  that  the  Norsemen 
were  then,  as  they  are  now,  very  excellent  navigators. 
They  had  good  sea-going  vessels,  some  of  which  were 
of  large  size.  We  have  an  account,  in  Olaf  Trygve- 
son's  Saga,  of  one  that  was  in  many  respects  remark- 
able. That  part  of  the  keel  which  rested  on  the 
ground  was  140  feet  long.     None  but  the  choicest 


62 


AMERICA   NOT   DISCOVERED   BY    COLUMBUS. 


■i  •■*; 


material  was  used  in  its  construction.  It  contained 
thirty-four  rowing-benches,  and  its  stem  and  stern 
were  overlaid  with  gold.*  Their  vessels  would  com- 
pare favorably  with  those  of  other  nations,  which  have 
been  used  in  later  times  in  expeditions  around  the 
world,  and  were  in  every  way  adapted  for  an  ocean 
voyage.  They  certainly  were  as  well  fitted  to  cross 
the  Atlantic  as  were  the  ships  of  Columbus.  From 
the  Sagas  we  also  learn  that  the  Norsemen  fully 
understood  the  importance  of  cultivating  the  study 
of  navigation ;  they  knew  how  to  calculate  the  course 
of  the  sun  and  moon,  and  how  to  measure  time  by 
the  stars.  Without  a  high  degree  of  nautical  knowl- 
edge they  could  never  have  accomplished  their  voy- 
ages to  England,  France,  Spain,  Sicily,  Greece,  and 
those  still  more  difficult  voyages  to  Iceland  and 
Greenland. 

I  have  now  given  a  brief  historical  sketch  of  the 
voyages  and  enterprises  of  the  Norsemen.  I  have 
done  this  to  show   that  they  were  capable  of  the 

•This  ship  of  Olaf  Trygveson  was  called  the  Long  Serpent,  and  was 
built  by  the  ship-carpenter  Thorberg,  who  is  celebrated  in  the  annals  of 
the  North  for  bis  ship-bnilding.  The  Earl  Hakon  had  a  dragon  containing 
forty  rowing-benches.  King  Canute  had  one  containing  sixty,  and  King 
Olaf,  the  saint,  possessed  two  ships  capable  of  carrying  two  hundred  men 
each.  The  Norse  dragons  glided  on  the  waters  as  gracefully  as  ducks  or 
swans,  of  which  they  also  had  the  form.  Compare  also  "  Saga  Fridthjofs 
ens  Frtekna,"  (the  Saga  of  Fridthjof  the  Bold,  in  "Viking  Tales  of  the 
North,*')  chapter  1,  where  his  good  ship  Bllida  is  described. 


•r 


AMERICA   NOT   DISCOVERED   BY   COLUMBUS. 


63 


exploit  of  discovering  America  —  nay,  that  it  was  in 
fact  an  unavoidable  result  of  their  constant  seafaring 
life;  so  that  even  if  we  did  not  have  the  unmis- 
takable language  of  the  Sagas,  we  might  still  be 
able  to  assert,  with  a  considerable  degree  of  cer- 
tainty, that  the  Norsemen  must  have  been  aware  of 
the  existence  of  the  American  continent.  Yes,  the 
Norsemen  were  truly  a  great  people!  Their  spirit 
found  its  way  into  the  Magna  Charta*  of  England 
and  into  the  Declaration  of  Inependence  in  America. 
The  spirit  of  the  Vikings  still  survives  in  the  bosoms 
of  Englishmen,  Americans  and  Norsemen,  extending 
their  commerce,  taking  bold  positions  against  tyr- 
anny, and  producing  wonderful  internal  improve- 
ments in  these  countries. 

♦  Compare  William  and  Mary  Howitt. 


■S  'i 


T 


'U, 


CHAPTER   IX. 


THE  SAGAS  AND  DOCUMENTS  ARE  GENUINE. 

"TTTE  have  now  seen  that  the  Norsemen  made 
^  ^  themselves  known  in  every  part  of  the 
civilized  world;  that  they  had  excellent  ships,  that 
they  were  well  trained  seaman,  and  a  highly  civ- 
ilized nation,  possessing  in  fact  all  the  means 
necessary  for  reaching  the  continent  in  the  west; 
and  we  are  thus  prepared  for  the  vital  question. 
Did  the  Norsemen  actually  discover  and  explore 
the  coast  of  the  country  now  known  as  America? 
There  is  certainly  no  improbability  in  the  idea. 
Open  an  atlas  at  the  map  of  the  At^antic  Ocean 
or  at  the  maps  of  the  two  hemisphere?.  Observe 
the  distance  between  Norway  and  Iceland,  and  the 
distances  between  Iceland  and  Greenland  and  Green- 
land and  Newfoundland.  You  perceive  it  is  more 
than  twice  the  distance  between  Norway  and  Ice- 
land that  it  is  between  Iceland  and  Greenland,  and 
not  far  from  twice  the  distance  that  it  is  between 
Greenland  and    Labrador,   and   thence  on   to  New- 


AMKKKA    NOT    DISCOVCREl)    BY    tOI-lMBrs. 


65 


tbnndland.  Now,  after  conceding  tlie  fact  that 
Norse  colonies  existed  in  Greenland  for  at  least 
three  hundred  years,  which  every  student  of  Norso 
history  knows  to  be  a  fact,  wo  must  prepare  our- 
selves for  the  proposition  that  America  was  dis- 
covered by  the  Norsemen.  It  would  be  alto- 
gether unreasonable  to  suppose  that  a  seafaring 
people  like  the  Norsemen,  who  traversed  the 
broad  western  ocean  to  reach  Iceland  and  Green- 
land, could  live  for  three  centuries  within  a  short 
voyage  of  this  vast  continent  and  never  become 
aware  of  its  existence. 

But  fortunately  on  this  point  we  are  not  left  to 
conjecture.  We  have  a  complete  written  record  of 
the  discovery.  Intelligent  men  must  first  succeed 
in  blotting  out  innumerable  pages  of  well  authen- 
ticated history  before  they  undertake  to  deny  or 
dispute  the  facts  of  this  discovery.  While  literary 
darkness  overspread  the  whole  of  ths  European 
continent  for  many  centuries  following  the  tenth, 
letters  were  highly  cultivated  in  Iceland;  and  this 
is  the  very  time  and  country  in  which  the  Sagas 
containing  a  record  of  the  discovery  of  America 
originated.  That  they  were  written  long  before 
Columbus    is    as   easy   to    demonstrate    as   the   fact 

that  Herodotos  wrote  his  history  before  the  era  of 
8* 


li 


«6 


AMHBIOA    NOT    DIrtCOVKKKD   BY    UOLUMBUB. 


Ohrist.  The  authenticity  and  authority  of  the  Ice- 
landic Sagas  has  been  fully  ^acknowledged  by  Alex- 
ander VON  Humboldt  in  his  Cosmos,*  by  Malte- 
B«UN,t  and  many  other  distingi  ished  scholars;  and 
therefore  a  further  discussioii  is  at  this  time  un- 
necessary on  this  point. 

The  manuscripts,  in  which  we  have  the  Sagas 
relating  to  America,  are  found  in  the  celebrated 
Codex  Flat(eensi8,  a  skin-book  that  was  finished  in 
the  year  13S7.  This  work,  written  with  great  care 
and  executed  in  the  highest  style  of  art,  is  now 
preserved  in  its  integrity  in  the  archives  of  Copen- 

•  Cosmos,  Vcl.  il.,  pp.  369-273,  where  Alexander  Von  Humboldt, 
discuBsing  the  pi'o-Columbian  discovery  of  America  by  the  Norsemen, 
eays:  *'Wc  are  here  on  historical  groand.  By  the  critical  and  highly 
praiseworthy  efforts  of  Professor  Rafn  and  the  Royal  Society  of  Northern 
Antiquaries  in  Copenhagen,  the  Sagas  and  documents  in  regard  to  the 
expeditions  of  the  Norsemen  to  Hcl'uland  (Nev.ibundland),  to  Markland 
(the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  river  and  Nova  Scotia),  and  to  Viuland 
(Massachusetts),  have  been  published  and  satisfactorily  commented  upon. 
♦  ♦  •  The  discovery  of  the  northern  part  of  America  by  the  Norsemen 
cannot  be  disputed.  The  length  of  the  voyage,  the  direction  !n  which 
they  sailed,  the  time  of  the  sun's  rising  and  setting,  are  accurately  given. 
While  the  Chalifat  of  Bagdad  was  still  flourishing  under  the  Abbasides. 
and  while  the  ruio  of  the  Samanides,  so  favorabi  j  to  poetry,  still  flour- 
ished in  Persia,  America  was  discovered,  about  tht  year  1000,  by  Leif.  son 
of  Brik  the  Red,  at  about  41H«  N.  L." 

t  Vid.  Nouvelles  annales  des  voyages,  de  la  g^ographie,  de  Thistoire 
et  de  I'arch^ologie,  r^dig^es  par  M.  V.-A.  Maltb-Brun,  secretaire  de  la 
commission  rentrale  de  la  socit^t^  de  g^ographie  de  Paris,  member  de 
plutiears  socidt^s  Mvantes.    Aofit,  IflCS,  p.  S68. 


AMERICA   NOT    DISCOVERED    BY    COLUMBUS. 


67 


hagen,  and  a  carefully  printed  copy*  of  it  is  to  be 
found  in  Mimer's  library  at  the  University  of  Wis- 
consin. We  gather  from  this  work  that  the  Norse- 
men, after  discovering  and  settling  Greenland,  and 
then  keeping  a  bold  southwestern  course,  discovered 
America  more  than  500  years  before  Columbus;  and 
I  si  ill  in  the  following  chapters  present  some  of 
the  main  circumstances  of  this  discovery. 

*  Flatbyarbuk.  Cliristiauia  (Norway).  IbiiO-lSttti. 


■m 


CHAPTER  X. 


Ill 


BJARNf]  HERJULFSON.  980. 

"TN  the  year  986,  the  same  year  that  he  returned 
from  Greenland,  the  above-named  Erik  the 
Red  moved  from  Iceland  to  (i^i'eenland,  and  amon^ 
his  numerous  friends,  who  aei-ompanied  liim,  was 
an  Icelander  by  name  Heejulf. 

Herjulf  had  a.  son  by  name  Bjarne,  wlio  was  a 
man  of  enterprise  and  fond  of  going  abroad,  and 
who  possessed  a  merchant-ship,  with  which  he  gath- 
ered wealth  and  reputation.  He  used  to  be  by 
turns  a  year  abroad  and  a  year  at  home  with  his 
father.  He  chanced  to  be  away  in  Norway  when 
his  father  moved  over  to  Greenland,  and  on  return- 
ing to  Iceland  he  was  so  much  disappointed  on 
hearing  of  his  father's  departure  with  Erik,  that 
he  would  not  unload  his  ship,  but  resolved  to 
follow  his  old  custom  and  take  up  his  abode  with 
his  father.  "  Who  will  go  wirJi  me  to  Greenland  ? " 
said  he  to  his  men.  "We  will  all  go  with  you," 
replied  the  men.     "But  we  have  none  of  us  ever 


AMERICA    NOT    PIS*  OVERED   BY    COLUMBUS. 


69 


))een  on  the  Greenland  Sea  before,"  said  Bjarne. 
"We  mind  not  that,''  eaid  the  men, —  so  away  they 
sailed  for  three  davs  and  lost  siffht  of  Iceland. 
Then  the  wind  failed.  After  that  a  north  wind 
and  fog  set  in,  and  they  knew  not  where  they  were 
sailing  to.  This  lasted  many  days,  until  the  snn 
at  length  appeared  again,  so  that  they  could  deter- 
mine the  quarters  of  the  sky,  and  lo !  in  the  horizon 
they  saw,  like  a  blue  .'loud,  the  outlines  of  an  un- 
known land.  They  approached  it.  They  saw  that 
it  was  without  mountains,  was  covered  with  wood, 
and  that  there  were  small  hills  inland.  Bjanic 
saw  that  this  did  not  answer  to  the  description  ot 
Greenland ;  he  knew  he  was  too  far  south ;  so  he 
left  the  land  on  the  larboard  side  and  sailed  north- 
ward two  days,  when  they  got  sight  of  land  again. 
The  men  asked  Bjarne  if  this  was  Greenland ;  but 
he  said  it  was  not,  "For  in  Greenland,''  he  said, 
"there  are  great  siiowy  mountains;  but  this  land 
is  flat  and  covered  with  trei  "  They  did  not  go 
ashore,  but  turning  the  bow  from  the  land,  they 
kept  the  sea  with  a  fine  breeze  from  the  southwest 
for  three  davs,  when  a  third  land  was  seen.  Still 
Bjarne  would  not  go  ashore,  for  it  was  not  like 
what  had  been  reported  of  Greenland.  So  they 
sailed  on,  driven  by  a  violent  ^outkweBt  wind,  and 


70 


AMERICA    NOT    DISCOVERED    BY    COLUMBUS. 


after  four  days  they  reached  a  land  wliich  suited  the 
description  of  Greenland.  Bjarne  was  not  deceived, 
for  it  was  Greenland,  and  he  happened  to  land 
close  to  the  place  where  his  father  had  settled. 

It  cannot  be  determined  with  certainty  what 
parts  of  the  American  coast  Bjarne  saw;  but  from 
the  circumstances  of  the  voyage,  tlie  course  of  the 
winds,  tlio  direction  of  the  currents,  and  the  pre- 
sumed distance  between  each  sight  of  land,  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  the  first  land  that  Bjarne  saw 
in  the  year  986  was  the  present  Nantucket,  one 
degree  south  of  Boston ;  the  second  Nova  Scotia, 
and  the  third  Newfoundland.  Thus  B.takne  Her- 
.lULFsoN  was  the  first  European  whose  eyes  beheld 
any  part  of  the  present  Nem  England.  The  first 
European  who  saw  the  American  continent^  and 
whose  name  is  recorded,  was  Are  M arson  (see  p.  18). 
He  went  to  Great  Ireland  (the  ('hesape^ke  country), 
which  hud  undoubtedly  been  discovered  by  the  Irish 
even  K»ng  before  Are  visited  there  in  the  year  983. 


h    ••-  H 


PHAPTER  XI. 


LEIF  ERIKSON,  1000. 


XT  THEN  Bjarne  visited  Norway,  a  few  years 
'  '  later,  and  told  of  his  adventure,  he  was 
censured  in  strong  terras  by  Jarl  (Earl)  Erik  and 
others,  because  he  had  manifested  so  little  interest 
that  he  had  not  even  gone  ashore  and  explored 
these  lands,  and  because  he  could  give  no  more 
definite  account  of  them.  Still,  what  he  did  say 
was  sufficient  to  arouse  in  the  mind  of  Leif  Erik- 
son,  son  of  Erik  the  Red,  a  determination  to  solve 
the  problem  and  find  out  what  kind  of  lands  these 
were  that  were  talked  so  much  about.  He  bought 
Bjarne's  ship  from  him,  set  sail  with  a  good  crew 
of  thirty-five  men,  and  found  the  lands  just  as 
Bjarne  had  described  them,  far  away  to  the  south- 
west of  Greenland.  They  landed  in  Helluland 
(Newfoundland)  and  in  Markland  (Nova  Scotia), 
exp^.ored  these  countries  somewhat,  gave  them  names, 
and  proceeded  from  the  latter  into  the  open  sea 
with  a  northeast  wind,  and  were  two  days  at  sea 


■I 


72 


AMERICA    KOT    DI8COVBKED   BY    COLUMBUS. 


I*- 
IS. 


m 


before  they  saw  land  again.  They  sailed  into  a 
sound.  It  was  very  shallow  at  ebb-tide,  so  that 
their  ship  stood  dry  and  there  was  a  long  way  from 
their  ship  to  the  water.  But  so  much  did  they 
desire  to  land  that  they  did  not  give  themselves 
time  to  wait  until  the  water  rose  again  under  their 
ship,  but  ran  at  once  on  shore,  at  a  place  where  a 
river  flows  out  of  a  lake.*  But  as  soon  as  the 
water  rose  up  under  the  ship,  they  rowed  out  in 
their  boats,  floated  the  ship  up  the  river  and  thence 
into  the  lake,  where  they  cast  anchor,  brought  their 
skin  cots  out  of  the  ship,  and  raised  their  tents. 
After  this  they  took  counsel,  and  resolved  to  remain 
through  the  winter,  and  built  a  large  house.  There 
was  no  want  of  sahnon,  either  in  the  river  or  in  the 
lake,  and  larger  salmon  than  they  had  before  seen. 
The  nature  of  the  country  was,  as  they  thought,  so 
good  that  cattle  would  not  require  house-feeding  in 
winter.  Day  and  night  were  more  equal  than  in 
Greenland  or  Iceland,  for  on  the  shortest  day  the  sun 
was  above  the  horizon  from  half-past  seven  in  the 
forenoon  till  half-past  four  in  the  afemoon ;  which 
circumstance  gives  for  the  latitude  of  the  place  41° 
24'  10";   hence   Leif's   booths   are   thought  to  have 

*  This  lake  is  Mount  Hope  Bay.    The  tonrist,  in  traveling  that  way  by 
rail,  will  at  first  take  Monnt  Hope  Bay  for  a  lake.    B.  F.  DeCosta.  p.  3S. 


AMERICA   NOT   DISCOVERED    BY    COLUMBUS. 


73 


been  situated  at  or  near  Fall  River,  Massachusetts. 
Leif  Erikson  called  the  country  Vinland,  and  the 
cause  of  this  was  the  following  interesting  incident: 
There  was  a  German  in  Leif  Erikson's  party  by 
name  Tyrker.  He  was  a  prisoner  of  war,  but  had 
become  Leif 's  special  favorite.  He  was  missing  one 
day  after  they  came  back  from  an  exploring  expedi- 
tion. Leif  Erikson  became  very  anxious  about 
Tyrker,  and  fearing  that  he  might  be  killed  by  wild 
beasts  cr  by  natives,*  he  went  out  with  a  few  men 
to  search  for  him.  Toward  evening  he  was  found 
coming  home,  but  in  a  very  excited  state  of  mind. 
The  cause  of  his  excitement  was  some  fruit  which 
he  had  found  and  which  he  held  up  in  his  hands, 
shouting :'' Weintrauben !  Weintrauben ! !  Weintrau- 
ben ! ! !  "  The  sight  and  taste  of  this  fruit,  to  which 
he  had  been  accustomed  in  his  own  native  land, 
had  excited  him  to  such  an  extent  that  he  seemed 
drunk,  and  for  some  time  he  would  do  nothing 
but  laugh,  devour  grapes  and  talk  German,  which 
language  our  Norse  discoverers  did  not  understand. 
At  last  he  spoke  Norse,  and  explained  that  he,  to 

*  Our  Norse  coloaiste  in  Vinland  had  frequent  intercourse  with  the 
natives,  whom  they  called  '' Skraellinger."  This  name  is  derived  from  the 
verb  "skraela,"  which  means  to  peel;  hence  skrielling  (peeling)  alludes  to 
their  small  and  shriveled  aspect.  Compare  also  the  adjective  "skral/* 
which  means  slim,  lean. 


74 


AMERICA   NOT   DISCOVERED   BY   COLUMBUS. 


i  ! 


m 


mi 


ri 


his  great  joy  and  surprise,  had  found  vines  and 
grapes  in  great  abundance.  From  this  circumstance 
the  land  got  the  name  of  Vinland,  and  history  got 
the  interesting  fact  that  a  German  was  along  with 
the  daring  argonauts  of  the  Christian  era. 

Here  is  then  a  short  account  of  the  tirst  expedi- 
tion to  New  England.  It  took  place  in  the  year 
1000,  and  Leif  Erikson  was  the  iirst  pale-faced  man 
of  whom  it  is  recorded  that  he  undertook  a  voyage 
across  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  v'ith  the  definitely  avowed 
purpose  of  seeking  for  land.  His  was  no  discovery 
by  accident.  The  nature  of  Leif  Erikson's  expedi- 
tion, the  end  sought,  etc.,  was  as  clearly  defined  in 
his  own  mind,  and  as  well  understood  by  his  coun- 
trymen, as  in  the  case  of  the  expedition  undertaken 
by  Columbus  in  1492.  But  Leif  did  not  set  heaven 
and  earth  in  commotion  in  reference  to  the  matter 
of  going  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  He  simply 
bought  Bjarne's  ship,  engaged  thirty-five  fearless 
seamen  like  himself,  said  good-bye  to  his  aged 
father,  and  set  sail! 


I 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THORVALD  ERIKSON,   1002. 


TN  the  spring,  when  the  winds  were  favorable, 
-*-  Leif  Erikson  returned  to  Greenland.  The  ex- 
pedition to  Vinland  was  much  talked  of,  and  Thor- 
WALD,  Leif's  brother,  thought  that  the  land  had 
been  much  too  little  explored.  Then  said  Leif  to 
Thorvald :  "  You  may  go  with  my  ship,  brother,  to 
Vinland,  if  you  like."  And  so  another  expedition 
was  fitted  out,  in  the  year  1002,  by  Thorwald  Erik- 
son,  who  went  to  Vinland  and  remained  there  three 
years;  but  it  cost  him  his  life,  for  in  a  battle  with 
the  Skrsellings  an  arrow  from  one  of  the  natives  of 
America  pierced  his  side,  causing  death.  He  was 
buried  in  Vinland,  and  two  crosses  were  erected  on 
his  grave, —  one  at  his  head  and  one  at  his  feet. 
Hallowed  ground,  this,  beneath  whose  sod  rests  the 
dust  of  the  first  Christian  and  the  first  European 
who  died  in  America!  His  death  and  burial  also 
gains  interest  in  another  respect,  for  in  the  year 
1831  there  was  found  in  the  viciinty  of  Fall  River, 
Massachusetts,  a  skeleton  in  armor,  and  many  of 
the  circumstances  connected  with  it  are  so  wonderful 


76 


AMKiilOA   NOT   DI800VKRE1D    BY    COLUMBUS. 


I 


I 

I,  I 


W  i;  I 


that  it  might  indeed  seem  almost  as  though  it  were 

the  skeleton  of  this  very  Thorvald   Erikson !      This 

skeleton   in   armor  attracted  much  attention   at  the 

time,   was  the   subject  of  much   learned   discussion, 

and   our   celebrated    poet   Longfellow  wrote,  in   the 

year  1841,  a  poem  about  it,  beginning: 

"Speak!  speak!  thou  fearful  guest!" 

After  which   he   makes  the  skeleton   tell   about  his 

adventures  as  a   viking,   about   the   pine  forests  of 

Norway,  about  his  vo3'age  across  the   stormy  deep, 

and    about    the    discovery   of   America,    concerning 

which  he  says: 

"Three  weeks  we  westward  bore, 
And  when  the  storm  was  o'er, 
Cloudlike  we  saw  the  shore 

Stretching  to  leeward; 
There,  for  my  lady's  bower, 
Built  I  the  lofty  tower,* 
Which  to  this  very  hour 

Stands  looking  seaward." 

The   following  are   the    last   two    verses   of   the 

poem : 

"Still  grew  my  bosom,  then, 

Still  as  a  stagnant  fen. 

Hateful  to  me  were  men. 

The  sunlight  hateful ! 

*The  tower  here  referred  to  is  the  famons  Newport  tower  in  Rhode 
Island,  which  undoubtedly  was  built  by  the  Norsemen;  at  least  we  persist 
!n  c!aiming  it,  until  it  can  be  clearly  ohown  that  it  has  beeu  built  uiuce  the 
hndlng  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  in  16S0. 


AMERICA    NOT    l»I8CUVEREI)    BY   COLUMF?U8.  77 

In  the  vast  forest  here, 
Clad  in  my  warlike  K'^ar, 
Fell  I  upon  my  spear, — 
Oh,  death  was  grateful! 

"Thus,  seamed  with     lany  scars, 
Bursting  these  prison  bars, 
Up  to  its  native  stara 

My  soul  ascended. 
There,  from  the  flowing  bowl. 
Deep  drinks  the  warrior's  soul: 
Skaal!  to  the  Northland,  skaal! 

Thus  the  tale  ended." 

The  great  Swedish  chemist  Berzeliiis  analyzed* 
a  part  of  the  breastplate  which  was  found  on  the 
skeleton,  and  found  that  in  composition  it  corre- 
sponded with  metals  used  in  the  North  during  the 
tenth  century ;  and  comparing  the  Fall  River  breast- 
plate with  old  Northern  armors,  it  was  also  found 
to  correspond  with  these  in  style. 

"When  the  Norsemen  had  buried  their  chief,  Thor- 
wald,  they  returned  to  Leifsbudir  (Leif's  booths), 
loaded  their  ship*  wit^-  ,ne  products  of  the  land,  and 
returned  to  Greeni&wcl  in  the  year  1005. 

*A  bronzo  article  fouud  in  Denmark,  and  dating  with  certainty  back 

to  the  tenth  century,  waf  also  analyzed,  and  the  annexed  table  shuwti  the 

result  of  the  analysis: 

BremtjAate  Bronze  Article 

from  from 

America.  Denmark. 

Copper 70.29 67.13 

Zinc 28.08 20.89 

Tin * 0.91 9.34 

Lead 0.74 3.89 

Iron 0.08 0.11 


,■ 


f  i 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


I  hi 


Mi 


THORSTEIN  ERIKSON,  1005. 

npiIEN  the  Sagas  tell  us  that  Thorstein,  the 
youngest  son  of  Erik  the  Red,  was  seized 
with  a  strong  desire  to  pass  over  to  Yinland  to 
fetch  the  body  of  his  brother  Thorvald.  He  was 
married  to  Gudrid,  a  woman  remarkable  for  her 
beauty,  her  dignity,  her  prudence,  and  her  good 
discourse.  Thorstein  fitted  out  a  vessel,  manned 
it  with  twenty-five  men  selected  for  their  strength 
and  stature,  besides  himself  and  Gudrid.  When 
all  was  ready  they  put  out  to  sea,  and  were  soon 
out  of  iight  of  land.  Through  the  whole  summer 
they  were  tossed  about  on  the  deep,  and  were 
driven  they  knew  not  whither.  Finally  they  made 
land,  which  they  found  to  be  Lysefjord,  on  the 
western  coast  of  Greenland.  Here  Thorstein  and 
several  of  his  men  died,  and  Gudrid  returned  to 
Eriksfjord. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


THORFINN  KARLSEFNP]  AND  GUDRID,  1007. 


rp^IIE  most  distinguished  explorer  of  Vinland 
-*-  was  Thorfinn  Karlsefne.  He  was  a  wealthy 
and  intiuential  man.  He  was  descended  from  the 
most  famous  families  in  the  North.  Several  of  his 
ancestors  had  been  elected  kings.  In  the  fall  of 
1006  he  came  from  Norway  to  Eriksfjord  with 
two  ships.  Karlsefne  made  rich  presents  to  Leif 
Erikson,  and  Leif  oftered  the  Norse  navigator  the 
hospitalities  of  Brattahlid  during  winter.  After  the 
Yule  festival  Thorfinn  began  to  treat  with  Leif  as 
to  the  marriage  of  Gudrid,  Leif  being  the  person 
to  whom  the  right  of  betrothment  belonged.  Leif 
gave  a  favorable  ear  to  his  advances,  and  in  the 
course  of  the  winter  their  nuptials  were  celebrated 
with  due  ceremony.  The  conversation  frequently 
turned  at  Brattahlid  upon  Yinland  the  Good,  many 
saying  that  an  expedition  thither  held  out  fair 
prospects  of  gain.  The  result  was  that  Thorfinn, 
accompanied  by  his  ^^ife,  who  urged  him  to  the 
undertaking,    sailed    to    Vinland    in    the  spring  of 


80 


AMERICA    NOT    DlSCUVERJil)    BY   COLUMBUB. 


vl' 


I; 


i 


1007,  and  remained  there  three  years.  The  Sagas 
lay  considerable  stress  upon  the  fact  that  Gudrid 
persuaded  him  to  undertake  this  expedition.  Siiu 
also  appears  to  hare  taken  a  prominent  part  in 
the  whole  enterprise.  Imagine  yourself  way  off  in 
Greenland.  Imagine  Gudrid  and  ThorMnn  Karl- 
sefne  taking  a  walk  together  on  the  sea-beach,  and 
Gudrid  talking  to  her  husband  in  this  wise: 

''I  wonder  that  you,  Thorfinn,  with  good  ships 
and  many  stout  men,  and  plenty  of  means,  should 
choose  to  remain  in  this  barren  spot  instead  of 
searching  out  the  famoijs  Vinland  and  making  a 
settlement  there.  Just  think  what  a  Rilendid  coun- 
try  it  must  be,  aud  what  a  desirable  change  for  all 
of  us.  Thick  and  leafy  woods  like  those  of  old 
Norway,  instead  of  these  rngged  cliffs  and  snow-clad 
hills.  Fields  of  waving  grass  and  rye  instead  of 
moss-covered  rocks  and  sandy  soil.  Trees  large 
enough  to  build  houses  ana  ships  instead  of  willow 
bushes,  that  a^e  fit  for  nothing  except  to  save  our 
cattle  from  starvation  when  the  hay-crop  runs  out; 
besides  longer  sunshine  in  winter,  and  more  genial 
warmth  all  the  yoar  round,  instead  of  howling  winds 
and  ice  and  snow.  Truly  T  think  this  country  was 
wofully  misnamed  when  they  called  it  Greenland." 

You  can   easily  imagine  that  Thorfinn  was  coiv- 


AMKKiCA    NOT    OISlJoVEKElJ    BY    COMMBIS. 


SI 


viticed  by  sucli  persuasive  argiunents,  and  he  resolved 
to  follow  his  wife's  advice. 

The  expedition  which  now  set  out  for  Vinlaud 
was  on  a  much  larger  scale  than  any  ot  the  expedi- 
tions that  hud  preceded  it.  That  Leif  and  Thorvald 
and  Thorstein  had  not  intended  to  niaivo  their  per- 
manent abode  in  Viidand  was  j)lain,  from  the  fact 
that  they  brought  neither  women  nor  Hocks  nor 
herds  with  them.  Karlsefue,  on  the  other  hiuid, 
went  forth  fully  ecpiipped  for  colonization.  The 
party  consiated  of  one  hundred  and  Jiff  (/-one  men 
and  seven  women.  A  number  of  cattle  and  sheep 
were  also  carried  on  this  occasion  to  Vinland.  They 
all  arrived  there  in  safety,  and  remained,  as  has 
been  stated,  three  years,  when  hostilities  between 
them  and  the  Skrsellings  compelled  them  to  give 
up  their  colony. 

The  Saga  gives  a  very  full  account  of  Thoilinirs 
enterprises  in  Vinland ;  about  the  traffic  with  the 
Skrffillings;  about  the  development  of  the  colony, 
etc.;  all  of  which  l  am  compelled  to  omit  in  this 
sketch.  I  must  call  attention,  however,  to  the 
interesting  fact  that  a  son  was  born  to  Thortinn 
and  Gudrid  the  year  after  they  had  established 
themselves  in  tiioir  quarters  at  Straiuntjord  (Huz- 
zard's  Bay).     Tlis  name  was  Snokre  Thohfinnson. 


82 


AMEBICA    NOT    DltiCOVEKED    BY    COLUMBUS. 


I 


Jle  was  born  in  the  present  State  of  Massachusetts, 
in  the  year  1008,  and  he  was  the  first  man  of 
European  blood  of  whose  birth  in  America  we  have 
any  record.  From  him  the  famous  sculptor,  Albert 
Thorwaldsen,  is  lineally  descended,  besides  a  long 
train  of  learned  and  distinguished  men  who  have 
fiourished  during  the  last  eight  centuries  in  Iceland 
and  Denmark. 

In  the  next  place,  attention  is  invited  to  an 
inscription  on  a  rock,  situated  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Taunton  river,  in  Bristol  county,  Massachusetts. 
It  is  familiarly  called  the  Dighton  Writing  Rock 
Inscription.  It  stands  in  the  very  region  which 
the  Norsemen  frequented.  It  is  written  in  char- 
acters which  tlie  natives  have  never  used  nor  sculp- 
tured. This  inscription  was  copied  by  Dr.  Danforth 
US  early  as  1680,  by  Cotton  Mather  in  1712;  it 
was  copied  by  Dr.  Greenwood  in  1730,  by  Stephen 
Sewell  in  1768,  by  James  Winthrop  in  1788,  and 
has  been  copied  at  least  four  times  in  the  present 
(century.  The  rock  was  seen  and  talked  of  by  the 
first  settlers  in  Now  England,  long  before  anything 
was  said  about  the  Norsemen  discovering  America 
before  Columbus. 


iljhi'T  I"'"  I     il 


AMERICA    NOT    JMSCOVEKED    BV    (OLUMBUS. 


83 


Near  the  center  of  the  scription  we  read  dis- 
tinctly, in  Roman  characters, 

CXXXI, 
which  is  151,*  the  exact  number  of  Thorfinn's  party. 
Then  we  find  an  N,  a  boat,  and  the  Runic  character 
for  M,  which  may  be  interpreted  "  N(or8e)  seafaring 
M(en)."  Besides  we  have  the  word  NAM  —  took 
(took  possession),  and  the  whole  of  Thorfinn's  name, 
with  the  exception  of  the  first  letter.  Repeating 
these  characters  we  have 

ORFIN,  CXXXI,  N   'S^^^  M,   NAM, 

which  has  been  interpreted  by  Prof.  Rafn  as  fol- 
lows: "Thorfinn,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty-one 
Norse  seafaring  men  took  possession  of  this  land 
(landnam)." 

In  the  lower  left  corner  of  the  inscription  is  a 
figure  of  a  woman  and  a  child,  near  the  latter  of 
which  is  the  letter  S,  reminding  us  most  forcibly 
of  Gudrid  and  her  son,  Snorre.  Upon  the  whole, 
the  Dighton  Writing  Rock,  if  Prof.  Rafn's  plates 
and  interpretations  can  be  relied  upon,  removes  all 
doubt  concerning  the  presence  of  Thorfinn  Karlsefne 
and  the  Norsemen  at  Taunton  River,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  eleventh  century.f 

•  The  Icelanders  reckoned  twelve  decades  to  tUe  hundred   and  called 
it  Btort  hundrad  (great  hundred). 
f  See  page  39. 


OllAPTKK  XV. 


[1 


3,m 


OTHER  EXPEDITIONS  BY  THE  NORSEMEN. 

rilllE  Sa<;ab  give  elaborate  accounts  of  other 
-*-  expeditions  by  the  Norsemen  to  Vinlaud. 
Thus  there  is  one  by  Freydis  in  the  year  1011 ; 
and  in  the  year  1121  the  Bishop  Erik  Ilpsi  went 
as  a  missionary  to  Vinland. 

Then  there  are  Sagas  that  give  accounts  of  expe- 
ditions by  Norsemen  to  Grkat  Irland  (North  and 
South  Carolina,  Georgia  and  Florida),  but  I  will 
omit  these  in  the  present  sketch.* 

The  last  expedition  mentioned  was  in  the  year 
1347,  but  this  was  in  the  time  of  the  Black  Plague, 
which  raged  throughout  Europe  with  unre  iing  fury 
from  1347  to  1351,  and  also  reached  Iceland,  Green- 
land and  Vinland,  and  cut  off  communication  between 
these  countries.  The  Black  Plague  reduced  the  popu- 
hition  of  Norway  alone  from  two  millions  to  three 
hundred  thousand,  and  this  fact  gives  us  some  idea  of 
the  terrible  ravages  of  this  fearful  epidemic.  It  is 
evident  that  the  Black  Plague  left  no  surplus  popula- 
tion for  expeditions  to  America  or  elsewhere. 

*  See  pa^e  18. 


CHAPTKR    XVr 


ler 

1(1. 

H; 

Bllt 

po- 
nd 
•ill 

3ar 
le, 

in- 

311 

u- 

ib 
1- 


THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA  BY  COLUMBUS. 

X  WILL  now  devote  a  few  pages  to  pointing  out 
-■-  some  of  the  threads  that  connect  this  discovery 
of  America  by  tlie  Norsemen  with  the  more  recent 
and  better-known  discovery  by  Cohimbus. 

1.  From  a  letter  which  Columbus  himself  wrote, 
and  which  we  find  quoted  in  Washington  Irving's 
Cohimhus,*  we  know  positively  that  while  the  de- 
sign of  attempting  the  discovery  in  the  west  was 
maturing  in  the  mind  of  Columbus,  he  made  a 
voyage  to  the  north  of  Europe,  and  visited  Iceland. 
This  was  in  February,  1477,  and  in  his  conversation 
with  the  Bishop  and  other  learned  men  of  Iceland, 
he  must  have  been  informed  of  the  extraordinary 
fact,  that  their  countrymen  had  discovered  a  great 
country  beyond  the  western  ocean,  which  seemed 
to  ex'end  southward  to  a  great  distance.  This  was 
a  circumstance  not  likely  to  rest  quietly  in  the 
active  and  speculative  mind  of  the  great  geographer 

•  Vol.  1.  p.  59. 


86 


AMERICA    NOT    DISCOVERED   BY    COLUMBUS. 


and  navigator.  The  reader  will  observe  that,  when 
Columbus  was  in  Iceland,  in  the  year  1477,  fifteen 
years  before  he  discovered  America,  only  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  years  had  elapsed  since  the  last 
Norse  expedition  to  Vinland.  There  were  undoubt- 
edly people  still  living  whose  grandfathers  had 
crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  it  would  be  altogether 
unreasonable  to  suppose  that  he,  who  was  constantly 
studying  and  talking  about  geography  and  navigation, 
possibly  could  visit  Iceland  and  not  hear  anything  of 
the  land  in  the  west. 

2.  (rudrid,  the  wife  of  Thoriinn  and  mother  of 
Snorre,  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome  after  the  death 
of  her  husband.  It  is  related  that  she  was  well 
received,  and  she  certainly  must  have  talked  there 
of  her  ever  memorable  trans-oceanic  voyage  to  Vin- 
land, and  her  three  years'  residence  there.  Rome 
paid  much'  attention  to  geographical  discoveries,  and 
took  pains  to  collect  all  new  charts  and  reports 
that  were  brought  there.  Every  new  discovery  was 
an  aggrandizement  of  the  papal  dominion,  a  new 
field  for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  The  Romans 
might  have  heard  of  Vinland  before,  but  she  brought 
personal  evidence. 

3.  That  Vinland  was  known  at  the  Vatican  is 
clearly  proved   uy  the   fact   that   Pope  Paschal   II, 


AMERICA    NOT    DISCOVERED    BY    COLUMBUS. 


87 


in  the  year  1112,  appointed  Erik  Upsi,  Bishop  of 
Iceland,  Greenland  and  Yinland,  and  Erik  Upsi 
went  personally  to  Vinland  in  the  year  1121. 

4.  Recent  developments  in  relation  to  Columbus 
tend  to  prove  that  he  had  opportunity  to  see  a 
map  of  Vinland,  procured  from  the  Vatican  for  the 
Pinzons,  and  it  would  indeed  astonish  us  more  to 
learn  that  he,  with  his  nautical  knowledge,  did  not 
hear  of  America  than  that  he  did.  W«  must  also 
bear  in  mind  that  Columbus  lived  in  an  age  of 
discovery;  England,  France,  Portugal  and  Spain 
were  vying  with  each  other  in  discovering  new 
lands  and  extending  their  territories. 

5.  But  in  addition  to  the  Sagas,  the  Dighton 
Writing  Rock,  the  Newport  Tower  (which  the 
Indians  told  the  early  New  England  settlers  was 
built  by  the  giants,  and  the  Norse  discoverers  cer- 
tainly looked  like  giants  to  the  natives,  since  the 
former  called  the  latter  Sknellings) ;  and  in  addition 
to  the  skeleton  in  armor,  we  have  a  remarkable 
record  of  the  early  discovery  of  America  by  the 
Norsemen  in  the  writings  of  Adam  of  Bremen,  a 
canon  and  historian  of  high  authority,  who  died  in 
the  year  1076.  He  visited  the  Danish  king  Svend 
Estridson,  a  nephew  of  Canute  the  Great,  and  on 
his  return  home  he  wrote  a  book   "  On  the  Propa- 


88 


AMERICA   NOT   DISOOVEKED   BY   CJOLUMBUB. 


gation  of  the  Christkt/ii  Religion  in  the  North  of 
Europe^^  and  at  the  end  of  this  book  he  added  a 
geographical  treatise  "  On  the  Position  of  Denmark 
and  other  regions  beyond  Denmark!'^  Having  given 
an  account  of  Denmark,  Sweden,  Norway,  Iceland 
and  Greenland,  he  says  that,  "  besides  these  there  is 
still  another  region^  which  has  heen  visited  hy  many^ 
lying  in  that  Ocean  {the  Atlantic),  ivhich  is  called 
ViNLAND,  because  vines  groio  there  spontaneously, 
producing  very  good  wine '^  corn  likewise  spi'ings 
up  there  without  being  sown  ;^''  and  as  Adam  of 
Bremen  closes  his  account  of  Vinland  he  adds  these 
remarkable  words :  "  This  we  know  not  by  fabu- 
lous conjecture^  but  from  positive  stateinents  of  the 
DanesP 

Now,  Adam  of  Bremen's  work  was  first  pub- 
lished in  the  year  1073,  and  was  read  by  intelligent 
men  throughout  Europe,  and  Columbus  being  an 
educated  man,  and  so  deeply  interested  in  geograph- 
ical studies,  especially  when  they  treated  of  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  could  he  be  ignorant  of  so  important 
a  work? 

I  have  here  given  five  reasons  why  Columbus 
must  have  known  the  existence  of  the  American 
continent  before  he  started  on  his  voyage  of  discov- 
ery.    1.    Gudrid's  visit    to    Rome.     2.    Tlie  appoint- 


AMERICA    NOT    DIWOVKREI)    BY    CoLUMBl'S. 


89 


incTit,  by  Pope  Pascal  II,  of  Erik  Upsi  as  Bishop  ot* 
Vinland.  3.  Adam  of  Bremen's  account  of  Vinland, 
in  his  ])<>(>k  pul)li8hed  in  1073.  4.  The  map  pro- 
cured from  the  Vatican  for  the  Pinzons,  which  fact 
I  liave  not,  however,  yet  been  able  to  CHtablish  with 
absolute  certainty;  and,  5,  which  caps  the  climax, 
Columbus'  own  visit  to  Iceland  in  the  year  1477. 

These  are  stubborn  facts,  and,  if  you  read  tlie 
biography  of  Columbus,  you  will  find  that  he  always 
maintained  a  firm  conviction  that  there  was  land  in 
the  west,  lie  says  himself  that  he  based  this  con- 
viction on  the  authority  of  the  learned  writers.  He 
stated,  before  he  left  Spain,  that  he  expected  to  find 
land  soon  after  sailing  about  seven  hundred  leagues; 
hence  he  knew  the  breadth  of  the  ocean,  and  must, 
tlierefore,  have  had  a  pretty  definite  knowledge  of 
the  situation  of  Vinland  and  Great  Ireland.  A  day 
or  two  before  coming  in  sight  of  the  new  world,  he 
capitulated  with  his  mutinous  crew,  promising,  if  lie 
did  not  discover  land  within  three  days,  to  abandon 
the  voyage.  In  fact,  the  whole  hist(»ry  of  his  dis- 
covery proves  that  he  either  must  have  possessed 
])revious  knowledge  of  America,  or,  as  some  have 
had  the  audacity  to  maintain,  been  inspired.  We 
do  not  believe  in  that  sort  of  inspiration.  It  makes 
Columbus  a  greater  man,  in  our  estimation,  that  lie 


90 


AMERICA    NOT    DISCOVERED    BY    COLUMBU8. 


formed  his  opinion  by  a  chain  of  logical  deductions 
Ijased  upon  thorough  study  and  research.  It  is  to 
the  credit  of  Columbus,  we  say,  that  he  investigated 
the  nature  of  things;  that  he  diligently  searched  the 
learned  writers;  that  he  paid  close  attention  to  all 
rep^^rts  of  navigators,  and  gathered  up  all  those  scat- 
tered gleams  of  knowledge  that  fell  ineffectually  upon 
ordinary  minds.  Washington  Irving  Hays:  "When 
Columbus  had  formed  his  theory  it  became  fixed  in 
his  mind  with  singular  firmness.  He  never  spoke 
in  doubt  or  hesitation,  but  with  as  much  certainty  as 
if  his  eyes  had  already  beheld  the  promised  land.'" 
We  say,  if  he  held  this  firm  conviction  on  only 
presumptive  evidence,  then,  with  all  due  respect  for 
his  distinguished  biographer,  he  is  not  entitled  to 
the  enviable  reputation  for  scholarship  and  good 
judgment  that  has  been  accredited  to  him  by  Wash- 
ington Irving.  We  claim  to  be  vindicating  the  great 
name  of  Columbus,  by  showing  that  he  must  have 
based  his  ceptainty  upon  equally  certain  facts,  which 
he  possessed  the  ability  and  patience  to  study  out, 
and  the  keenness  of  intellect  to  put  together,  and 
this  gives  historical  importance  to  the  discovery 
of  America  by  the  Normmen.  The  fault  that  we 
find  with  Columbus  is,  that  he  was  not  honest  and 
frank  enough  to  tell  where  and  how  he  had  obtained 


AMERICA    NOT    DISCOVERED    BY    COLUMBUS. 


91 


Ilis  previous  information  about  the  lands  which  he 
pretended  to  discover;  that  he  sometimes  talked  of 
himself  as  chosen  by  Heaven  to  make  this  discovery, 
and  that  he  made  the  fruits  of  his  labors  subservient 
to  the  dominion  of  inquisition. 

If  our  theory,  then,  does  not  make  Columbus  out 
as  true  and  good  a  man  as  the  reader  may  have  con- 
sidered him,  we  still  insist  that  it  proves  him  a  man 
of  extraordinary  ability.  It  shows  that  lu-  discovered 
America  by  study  and  research,  and  not  by  accident 
or  inspiration.  Care  hIiouM  always  be  taken  to  vin- 
dicate great  names  from  accident  or  inspiration.  It 
defeats  one  of  the  most  salutary  purposes  of  history 
and  biography,  which  is  to  furnish  examples  of  what 
human  genius  and  laudable  enterprise  can  accomplish.* 

That  the  Spanish  and  more  recent  colonies  in 
America  could  become  more  permanent  than  the 
Norse  colonies,  is  chiefly  to  be  attributed  to  the 
superiority  that  lire-arms  gave  the  Europeans  over 
the  natives.  The  Norsemen  had  no  fire-arms,  and 
their  higher  culture  could  not  defend  them  against 
the  swarms  of  savages  that  attacked  them.  In  the 
next  place,  the  Black  Plague  reduced  the  popula- 
tion of  Norway  and  Iceland  beyond  the  necessity  or 
even  possibility  to  emigrate.     If  the  communication 

*  Washington  Irving. 


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AMERICA    NOT    DISCOVEKED    BY    COLUMBUS. 


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between  Vinland  and  the  North  could  have  been 
maintained  say  one  hundred  years  longer,  that  is,  to 
the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  it  is  difficult  to 
determine  what  the  result  would  have  been.  Possi- 
bl}'^  this  sketch  would  have  appeared  in  Icelandic 
instead  of  English.  Undoubtedly  the  Norse  colonies 
would  have  become  firmly  rooted  by  that  time,  and 
Norse  language,  nationality  and  institutions  might 
have  played  as  conspicuous  a  part  in  America  as  the 
English  and  their  posterity  do  now-a-days. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


CONCLUSION. 


M 


"T3UT  it  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  sketch 
-*-^  to  d'scuss  this  subject  any  farther.  Let  us 
remember  Letf  Eeikson,  the  first  white  man  wlio 
turned  the  bow  of  his  ship  to  the  west  for  the  pur- 
pose of  finding  America.  Let  us  remember  his 
brother,  Thorvald  Erikson,  the  first  European  and 
the  first  Christian  who  was  buried  beneath  Ameri- 
can sod !  Let  us  not  forget  Thorfinn  and  Gud- 
RiD,  who  established  the  first  European  colony  in 
New  England !  nor  their  little  son,  Snorre,  the  first 
man  of  European  blood  whose  birthplace  was  in 
the  New  World!  Let  us  erect  a  monument  to  Leif 
Erikson  worthy  of  the  man  and  the  cause ;  and 
while  the  knowledge  of  this  discovery  of  America 
lay  for  a  long  time  hid  in  the  unstudied  literature 
of  Iceland,  let  us  take  this  lesson,  that  "  truth 
crus/ied  to  earth  uiU  rise  again,' "  that  truth  may 
often  lie  darkened  and  hid  for  a  long  time,  but 
that  it  is  like  the  beam  of  light  from  a  star  in 
some    far    distant    region    of    the    universe  —  after 


94 


AMERICA    NOT    ULSCOVMiEI)    BY    COLUMBU8. 


thousands  of  years  it  reaches  some  heavenly  body 
and  gives  it  light. 

In  the  language  of  Mr.  Davis:  "Let  us  praise 
Leif  Erikson  for  liis  courage,  let  us  applaud  him 
for  his  zeal,  let  us  respect  him  for  his  motives,  for 
he  was  anxious  to  enlarge  the  boundaries  of  knowl- 
edge.    He  reached  the  wished-for  land, 

"'Where  now  the  western  sun, 
O'er  fields  and  floods, 
O'er  every  living  soul 
DifFuseth  glad  repose.' 

He  opened  to  the  view  a  broad  region,  where  smil- 
ing hope  invites  successive  generations  from  the 
old  world. 

"  Such  men  as  an  Alexander,  or  a  Tamerlane, 
conquer  but  to  devastate  countries.  Discoverers  add 
new  regions  of  fertility  and  beauty  to  those  already 
known. 

"And  are  not  the  hardy  adventurers,  plowing 
the  briny  deep,  more  attractive  than  the  troops  of 
Alexander,  or  Napoleon,  marching  to  conouer  the 
world,  with  plumes  waving  in  the  gentle  breeze, 
and  with  arms  glittering  in  the  sunbeams?  Who 
can  tell  all  the  benefits  that  discoverers  confer  on 
mankind  ? 

"  To  count  them  all  demands  a  thousand  tongues, 
A  throat  of  brass  and  adamantine  lungs.' " 


it-' 


WHAT  SCHOLARS  SAT 


ABOUT  THE 


Historical,  Linguistic  and  Literary  Value 


OF  THE 


SCANDINAVIAN  LANGUAGES. 


"  t)er  ar  flagga  pa  mast  och  den  visar  at  norr,  och 
i  norr  ftr  den  iilskade  jord  ; 
jag  vili  fOlja  de  himmelska  vindarnas  gang,  jag  vill 
styra  tillbaka  mot  Nord." 


—  Tegner, 


ENGLISH  VERSION. 


"  There's  the  flag  on  the  mast,  and  it  points  to  the  North, 
And  the  North  holds  the  land  that  I  love, 
i  will  steer  back  to  northward,  the  heavenly  course 
Of  the  winds  guiding  sure  from  above." 

"TTERY  little  attention  has  hitherto  been  given  in 
V  this  country  to  the  study  of  Scandinavian  history, 
languages  and  literatures.  We  think  this  branch  of 
study  would  not  be  so  much  neglected,  if  it  were  more 
generally  known  what  an  extensive  source  of  intel- 
lectual pleasure  it  affords  to  the  scholar  who  is  ac- 
quainted with  it.  We  hope,  therefore,  to  serve  a  good 
cause  by  calling  your  attention  to  a  few  quotations  from 
American,  English,  German,  and  French  scholars,  who 
have  given  much  time  and  attention  to  the  above  named 
subject,  in  order  that  it  may  be  known  what  they,  who 


I 


96 


THE    6CANJ)iNA\  IAN     LANGUAGES. 


ill 


i^i 


may  justly  be  considered  competent  to  judge,  say  of  their 
importance. 

I  will  add  that  I  have  not  found  a  scholar,  who  has 
devoted  himself  to  this  field  of  study  and  research,  that 
l>as  not  at  the  same  time  become  an  enthusiastic  admirer 
of  Scandinavian  and  particularly  Icelandic  history,  lan- 
guages and  literatures. 

To  scientific  students  it  is  liufficient  to  say,  that  a 
knowledge  of  the  Scandinavian  languages  at  once  intro- 
duces them  to  several  writers  of  great  eminence  in  the 
scientific  world.    I  will  briefly  mention  a  few. 

Hans  Christian  Oersted  won  for  himself  one  of 
the  greatest  names  of  the  age.  His  discovery,  in  1820,  of 
electro-magnetism  —  the  identity  of  electricity  and  ma'^- 
netism  —  which  he  not  onlv  discovered,  but  demoi- 
strated  incontestably,  placed  him  at  once  in  the  highest 
rank  of  physical  philosophers,  and  has  led  to  all  the 
wonders  cf  the  electric  telegraph.  His  great  work, "  The 
Soul  of  jS^ature,"  in  which  he  promulgates  his  grand 
doctrine  of  the  universe,  abundantly  repays  a  careful 
perusal. 

Carl  von  Linne  (Linnaeus)  is  the  polar  star  in 
botany.  He  was  professor  at  the  University  of  Sweden, 
died  in  1788,  and  is  the  founder  of  the  established  system 
of  botany.  As  LinnaBus  is  the  father  of  botany,  so  Ber- 
ZELius  might  be  called  the  father  of  the  present  sjstem 
of  chemistry.  He  is  one  of  the  greatest  ornaments  of 
science.  He  devoted  his  whole  life  sedulously  to  the 
promotion  and  extension  of  his  favorite  science,  and  to 
him  is  the  world  indebted  for  the  discovery  of  many 
new  elementary  principles  and  valuable  chemical  com- 


THE   SCANDINAVIAN    LANGUA(tES. 


97 


hi  nation^-  now  in  general  use.  He  filled  the  chair  of 
chemistry  in  the  University  of  Stockholm  for  forty-two 
years,  and  died  in  1848.  Scheele,  Michael  Svrs, 
Hansteen,  and  several  others,  are  men  who  have  dis- 
tinguished themselves  by  their  labors  in  the  field  of 
science,  natural  history  and  astronomy.  And  now  read 
the  following  quotations,  which  we  have  promised  to 
present. 

Mr.  Xorth  Ludlow  Beamish  says :  "  The  national 
literature  of  Iceland  holds  a  distinct  and  eminent  position 
in  the  literature  of  Europe.  In  that  remote  and  cheer- 
less isle  *  *  *  religion  and  learning  took  up  their 
tranquil  abode,  before  the  soutli  of  Euroj^e  had  yet 
emerged  from  the  mental  darkness  which  followed  the 
fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  There  the  uneiring  memo- 
ries of  the  Skalds  and  Sagamen  were  the  depositories  oi" 
past  events,  which,  handed  down  from  age  to  age,  in  one 
unbroken  line  of  historical  tradition,  were  committed  to 
writing  on  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  and  now 
come  before  us  with  an  internal  evidence  of  their  truth, 
which  places  them  amongst  the  higliest  or de?'  of  historical 
records. 

"  To  investigate  the  origin  of  this  remarkable  ad- 
vancement in  mental  culture,  and  trace  the  progressive 
steps  by  which  Icelandic  literature  attained  an  eminence 
which  even  now  imparts  a  lustre  to  that  barren  land,  is 
an  object  of  interesting  and  instructive  inquiry. 

"Among  no  other  people  of  Europe  can  the  concep- 
tion and  birth  of  historical  literature  be  more  clearly 
traced  than  amongst  the  people  of  Iceland.  Here  it  can 
be  shown  how  memory  took  root,  and  gave  birth   to 


r 


98 


THE   SCANDINAVIAN    LANGUAGES. 


1^  '.■ 


narrative ;  how  narrative  multiplied  and  increased  until 
it  was  committed  to  writing,  and  how  the  written  rela- 
tion eventually  became  sifted  and  arranged  in  chrono- 
logical order." 

Samuel  Laing,  Esq. — "All  that  men  hope  for  of 
good  government  and  future  improvement  in  their 
physical  and  moral  condition, —  all  that  civilized  men 
enjoy  at  this  day  of  civil,  religious  and  political  liberty 
—  the  British  constitution,  representative  legislature, 
the  trial  by  jury,  security  of  property,  freedom  of  mind 
and  person,  the  influence  of  public  opinion  over  the  con- 
Cvo.t  of  public  affairs,  the  Reformation,  the  liberty  of  the 
press,  the  spirit  of  the  age, — all  that  is  or  has  been  of 
value  to  man  in  modern  times  as  a  member  of  society, 
either  in  Europe  or  in  America,  may  be  traced  to  the 
spark  left  burning  upon  our  shores  by  the  Norwegian 
barbarians. 

"There  seem  no  good  grounds  for  the  favorite  and 
hackneyed  course  of  all  who  have  written  on  the  origin 
of  the  British  constitution  and  trial  by  jury,  who  un- 
riddle a  few  dark  phrases  of  Tacitus  concerning  the 
institutions  of  the  ancient  Germanic  tribes,  and  trace  up 
to  that  obscure  source  the  origin  of  all  political  institu- 
tions connected  with  freedom  in  modern  Europe.  In 
the  (Norwegian)  Sagas  we  find,  at  a  period  immediately 
preceding  the  first  traces  of  free  institutions  in  our 
history,  the  rude  but  very  vigorous  demonstrations  of 
similar  institutions  existing  in  great  activity  among 
those  northern  people,  who  were  masters  of  the  country 
under  Canute  the  Great,  who  for  two  generations  before 
his  time  had  occupied  and  inhabited  a  very  large  portion 


THE    SCANDINAVIAN    LANGUAGES. 


99 


of  it,  and  of  whom  a  branch  under  William  of  Normandy 
became  its  ultimate  and  permanent  conquerors.  It  may 
be  more  classical  to  search  in  the  pages  of  Tacitus  for 
allusions  to  the  customs  of  the  tribes  wandering  in  his 
day  through  the  forests  of  Germany,  which  may  bear 
some  faint  resemblance  to  modern  institutions,  or  to 
what  we  fancy  our  modern  institutions  may  have  been 
in  their  infancy ;  but  it  seems  more  consistent  with 
correct  principles  of  historic  research  to  look  for  the 
origin  )f  our  institutions  at  the  nearest,  not  at  the  most 
remote,  source ;  not  at  what  existed  1,000  years  before 
in  the  woods  of  Germany,  among  people  whom  we  must 
believe  upon  supposition  to  have  been  the  ancestors  of 
the  invaders  from  the  north  of  the  Elbe,  who  conquered 
England,  and  must  again  believe  upon  supposition,  that 
when  this  people  were  conquered  successively  by  the 
Danes  and  Normans,  they  imposed  their  own  peculiar 
institutions  upon  their  conquerors,  instead  of  receiving 
institutions  from  them ;  but  at  what  actually  existed, 
when  the  first  notice  of  assemblies  for  legislative  pur- 
poses can  be  traced  in  English  history  among  the  con- 
querors of  the  country,  a  cognate  people,  long  established 
by  previous  conquests  in  a  large  portion  of  it,  who  used, 
if  not  the  same,  at  least  a  language  common  to  both, 
and  who  had  no  occasion  to  borrow,  from  the  conquered, 
institutions  which  were  flourishing  at  the  time  in  their 
mother  country  in  much  greater  vigor.  It  is  in  these 
(Norwegian)  Sagas,  not  in  Tacitus,  that  we  have  to  look 
for  the  origin  of  the  political  institutions  of  England. 
The  reference  of  all  matters  to  the  legislative  assemblies 
of  the  people  is  one  of  the  most  striking  facts  in  the 
Sagas. 


1. 


i 


M 


lili- 


i  ill 


100 


T  H  K   8( '  AN  I  )IN  A  V I A  N    L  ANGU  AGES. 


•*  The  Sagc'is,  although  composed  by  natives  of  Ice- 
huul,  are  properly  Xorwet/ian  litercUurc.  Tlie  evenl.^, 
persons,  manners,  language,  belong  to  Norway;  and  they 
are  productions  whicli,  like  the  works  of  Homer,  of 
Shakespeurt',  and  of  Scott,  are  strongly  stamped  with 
nationality  of  ciiaracter  and  incident. 

"  A  portion  of  that  attention,  which  has  exhausted 

classic  mythology,  and  which  has  too  long  dwelt  in  the 

Pantheons  of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  is  wearied  with 

fruitless  efforts  to  learn  something  more,  where,  perhaps, 

nolliing  more  is  to  be  learned,  may  very  profitably,  and 

very  successfully,  be  directed  to  the  vast  field  of  Gothic 

research.     For  we  are  Goths  and  the  descendants  of 

Goths  — 

"  '  The  men, 

Of  earth's  best  blood,  of  titles  manifold.' 

And  it  well  becomes  us  to  ask,  what  has  Zeus  to  do  with 
the  Brocken,  Apollo  with  Effersburg,  or  Poseidon  with 
the  Northern  Sea  ?  The  gods  of  our  lathers  were  neither 
Jupiter,  nor  Saturn,  nor  Mercury,  but  Odin,  Brage,  or 
Eger.  If  we  marvel  at  the  pictures  of  heathen  divinities 
as  painted  by  classical  hands,  let  us  not  forget  that  our 
ancestors  had  deities  of  their  own  —  gods  as  mighty  in 
their  attributes,  as  refined  in  their  tastes,  as  heroic  in 
their  doings,  as  the  gods  worshiped  in  the  Parthenon  or 
tilked  about  in  the  forum." 

M.  Mallet  says :  "  History  has  not  recorded  the 
annals  of  a  people  who  have  occasioned  greater,  more 
sudden,  or  more  numerous  revolutions  in  Europe  than 
the  Scandinavians,  or  whose  antiquities,  at  the  same 
time,  are  so  little  known.    Had,  indeed,  their  emigra- 


THE    SCAMUNAVIAN    LAxVGUAGEb. 


101 


u 


tions  been  onl}'  like  those  sudden  torrents  of  which  jill 
traces  and  remembrance  are  soon  effaced,  the  indifference 
tliat  has  been  shown  to  them  would  have  been  sufh- 
ciently  justified  by  the  barbarism  they  have  been  ap- 
proached with.  But,  during  those  general  inundationp, 
the  face  of  Europe  underwent  so  total  a  change,  and 
during  the  con/usion  they  occasioned,  such  different 
establishments  took  place ;  new  societies  were  formed, 
animated  so  entirely  by  the  new  spirit,  that  the  history 
of  our  own  manners  and  institutions  ought  necessarily 
to  ascend  back,  and  even  dwell  a  considerable  time  upon 
a  period  which  discovers  to  us  their  chief  origin  and 
source. 

"  But  I  ought  not  barely  to  assert  this.  Permit  me 
to  support  the  assertions  by  proof.  For  this  pnrpose 
let  us  briefly  run  over  all  the  different  revolucions  which 
this  part  of  the  world  underwent  during  the  long  course 
of  ages  which  its  histo'-y  comprehends,  in  order  to  see 
what  share  the  nations  of  the  North  have  had  in  pro- 
ducing them.  If  we  recur  back  to  the  remotest  times, 
we  observe  a  nation  issuing  step  by  step  from  the  forests 
of  Scythia,  incessantly  increasing  and  dividing  to  take 
possession  of  the  uncultivated  countries  which  it  met 
with  in  its  progress.  Very  soon  after,  we  see  the  same 
people,  like  a  tree  full  of  vigor,  extending  long  branches 
over  all  Europe ;  we  see  them  also  carrying  with  them 
wherever  they  came,  from  the  borders  of  the  Black  Sea 
to  the  extremities  of  Spain,  of  Sicily,  and  of  Greece,  a 
religion  simple  and  martial  as  themselves,  a  form  of 
government  dictated  by  good  sense  and  liberty,  a  restless 
unconquered  spirit,  apt  to  take  fire  at  the  very  mention 
of  subjection  and  constraint,  and  a  ferocious  courage 


102 


THE    SCANDINAVIAN    LAN(iUAOES. 


¥■ 


nourished  by  a  savage  and  vagabond  life.  While  the 
gentleness  of  the  climate  softened  imperceptibly  the  fero- 
city of  those  who  settled  in  the  South,  colonies  of  Egyp- 
tians and  Phenicians  mixing  with  them  upon  the  coashs 
of  Greece,  and  thence  passing  over  to  those  of  Italy, 
taught  them  at  last  to  live  in  cities,  to  cultivate  letters, 
arts  and  commerce.  Tlius  their  opinions,  their  customs 
and  genius,  were  blended  together,  and  new  states  were 
formed  upon  new  plans.  Rome,  in  the  meantime,  arose 
and  at  length  carried  all  before  her.  In  proportion  as 
she  increased  in  grandeur,  she  forgot  her  ancient  man- 
ners, and  destroyed,  among  the  nations  whom  she  over- 
powered, the  original  spirit  with  which  they  were  ani- 
mated. But  this  spirit  continued  unaltered  in  the  colder 
countries  of  Europe,  and  maintained  itself  there  like  the 
independency  ^f  the  inhabitants.  Scarce  could  fifteen 
or  sixteen  centuries  produce  there  any  change  in  tliut 
spirit.  There  it  renewed  itself  incessantly ;  for,  during 
the  whole  of  that  long  interval,  new  adventurers  issuing 
continually  from  the  original  inexhaustible  country, 
trod  upon  the  heels  of  their  fathers  toward  the  north, 
and,  being  in  their  turn  succeeded  by  new  troops  of 
followers,  they  pushed  one  another  forward  like  the 
waves  of  the  sea.  The  northern  countries,  thus  over- 
stocked, and  unable  any  longer  to  contain  such  restless 
inhabitants,  equally  greedy  of  glory  and  plunder,  dis- 
charged at  length  upon  the  Roman  Empire  the  weight 
that  oppressed  them.  The  barriers  of  the  empire,  ill 
defended  by  a  people  whom  prosperity  had  enervated, 
were  borne  down  on  all  sides  by  torrents  of  victorious 
armies.  We  then  see  the  conquerors  introducing,  among 
the  nations  they  vanquished,  viz.,  into  the  very  bosom 


THE   SL'ANDINAVIAN    LAN<iUAGE8. 


103 


of  iavery  and  sloth,  that  spirit  of  independence  and 
equality,  that  elevation  of  soul,  that  taste  for  rural  and 
military  life,  which  both  the  one  and  the  other  had 
originally  derived  from  the  same  common  source,  but 
which  were  then  among  the  Romans  breathing  their  last. 
Dispositions  and  principles  so  opposite,  struggled  long 
with  forces  suflficiently  equal,  but  they  united  in  the  end, 
they  coalesced  together,  and  from  their  coalition  sprung 
those  principles  and  that  spirit  which  governed  after- 
ward almost  all  the  states  of  Europe,  and  which,  not- 
withstanding the  differences  of  climate,  of  religion,  and 
particular  accidents,  do  visibly  reign  in  them,  and  retain, 
to  this  day,  more  or  less,  the  traces  of  their  first  common 
origin. 

"  It  is  easy  to  see,  from  this  short  sketch,  how  greatly 
the  nations  of  the  earth  have  influenced  the  different 
fates  of  Europe ;  and  if  it  be  worth  while  to  trace  its 
revolutions  to  their  causes;  —  if  the  illustration  of  its 
institutions,  of  its  police,  of  its  customs,  of  its  manners, 
of  its  laws,  be  a  subject  of  useful  and  interesting  inquiry, 
it  must  be  allowed  that  the  antiquities  of  the  Northy 
that  is  to  say,  everything  which  tends  to  make  us  ac- 
quainted with  its  ancient  inhabitants,  merits  a  share  in 
the  attention  of  thinking  men.  But  to  render  this 
obvious  by  a  particular  example :  is  it  not  well  known 
that  the  most  flourishing  and  celebrated  states  of  Europe 
owe  originally  to  the  northern  nations  whatever  liberty 
they  now  enjoy,  either  in  their  constitution  or  in  the 
spirit  of  their  government?  For  although  the  Gothic 
form  of  government  has  been  almost  everywhere  altered 
or  abolished,  have  we  not  retained,  in  most  things,  the 
opinions,  the  customs,  the  manners  which  that  govern- 


^J 


u 


l-<>  < 


104 


TUB   SCANDINAVIAN    LANGUAGES. 


l'  i 


r 


II 


ment  had  a  tendency  to  produce  ?  Is  not  this,  in  fact, 
the  principal  source  of  that  courage,  of  that  aversion  to 
slavery,  of  that  empire  of  honor  which  characterized  in 
general  the  European  nations;  and  of  that  moderation, 
of  that  easiness  of  access,  and  peculiar  attention  to  the 
rights  of  humanity,  which  so  happily  distinguish  our 
sovereigns  .I'om  the  inaccessible  and  superb  tyrants  of 
Asia  ?  The  immense  extent  of  the  R-^man  Empire  had 
rendered  its  constitution  so  despotic  and  military,  many 
of  its  emperors  were  such  ferocious  monsters,  its  senate 
was  become  so  mean -spirited  and  vile,  that  all  elevation 
of  sentiment,  everything  that  was  noble  and  manly, 
seems  to  have  been  forever  banished  from  their  hearts 
and  minds;  insomuch  that  if  all  Europe  had  received 
the  yoke  of  Rome  in  this  her  state  of  debasement,  this 
fine  part  of  the  world  reduced  to  the  inglorious  con- 
dition of  the  rest  could  not  have  avoided  falling  into 
that  kind  of  barbarity,  which  is  of  all  others  the  most 
incurable;  as,  by  making  as  many  slaves  as  there  are 
men,  it  degrades  them  so  low  as  not  to  leave  them  even 
a  thought  or  desire  of  bettering  their  condition.  But 
nature  has  long  prepared  a  remedy  for  such  great  evils, 
in  tiiat  unsubmitting,  unconquerable  spirit  with  which 
she  has  inspired  the  people  of  the  North;  and  thus  she 
made  amends  to  the  human  race  for  all  the  calamities 
which,  in  other  respects,  the  inroads  of  these  nations 
and  the  overthrow  of  the  Roman  Empire  produced. 

"  The  great  prerogative  of  Scandinavia  (says  the  ad- 
mirable author  of  the  Spirit  of  Laws*),  and  what  ought 
to  recommend  its  inhabitants  beyond  every  people  upon 
earth,  is,  that  they  afforded  the  great  resource  to  the 

*  Baron  dc  ^^on1e(^^uiell  (L'Esprit  de  Lois). 


THE   SCANDINAVIAN    LANGUAGES. 


105 


liberty  of  Europe,  that  is,  to  almost  all  the  liberty  that 
is  among  men.  The  Goth  Jornande,  adds  he,  calls  the 
North  of  Europe  the  forge  of  mankind.  I  should  rather 
call  it  the  forge  of  those  instruments  which  broke  the 
fetters  manufactured  in  the  South.  It  was  there  those 
valiant  nations  were  bred  who  left  their  native  climes  to 
destroy  tyrants  and  slaves,  and  so  to  teach  men  that 
nature  having  made  them  equal,  no  reason  could  be 
assigned  for  their  becoming  dependent  but  their  mutual 
haijpiness." 

H.  W.  Longfellow  is  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  the 
Scandinavian  languages.  Of  the  Icelandic  he  bays: 
"  The  Icelandic  is  as  remarkable  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  for 
its  abruptness,  its  obscurity  and  the  boldness  of  its 
metaphors.  Poets  are  called  Songsmiths;  —  poetry,  the 
Language  of  the  Gods;  —  gold,  the  Daylight  of  ^warfs  ; 
—  the  heavens,  the  Scull  of  Ymer;  —  the  rainbow,  the 
Bridge  of  the  Gods ;  —  a  battle,  a  Bath  of  Blood,  the  Hail 
of  Odin,  the  Meeting  of  Shields ;  —  the  tongue,  the  Sword 
of  Words ;  —  a  river,  the  Sweat  of  Earth,  the  Blood  of  the 
Valleys;  —  arrows,  the  Daughters  of  Misfortune,  the 
Hailstones  of  Helmets ; -^  the  earth,  the  Vessel  that 
floats  '^ii  the  Ages ,  —  the  sea,  the  Field  of  Pirates :  — 
a  ship,  the  Skate  of  Pirates,  the  Horse  of  the  Waves. 
The  ancient  Skald  (Bard)  smote  the  strings  of  his  harp 
with  as  bold  a  hand  as  the  Berserk  smote  his  foe.  When 
heroes  fell  in  battle  he  sang  to  them  in  his  Drapa,  or 
death-song,  that  they  had  gone  to  drink  'divine  mead 
in  the  secure  and  tranquil  palaces  of  the  gods,'  in  that 
Valhalla  upon  whose  walls  stood  the  watchman  Heim- 
dal,  whose  ear  was  so  acute  that  he  could  hear  the  grass 


V 

} 


hr 


106 


THE    SCANDINAVIAN    LANGUAGES. 


I'.      ' 

St 


m 


grow  in  the  meadows  of  earth,  and  the  wool  on  the 
backs  of  sheep.  He  lived  in  a  credulous  age,  in  the 
dim  twilight  of  the  pust.     He  was 

'  The  sky-lurk  iu  the  dawn  of  years. 
The  poet  of  the  inoni.' 

In  the  vast  3olitudes  around  him,  the  heart  of  Nature 
beat  against  his  own.  From  the  midnight  gloom  of 
groves,  the  deep-voiced  pines  answered  the  deeper- 
voiced  and  neighboring  sea.  To  his  ear,  these  were  not 
the  voices  of  dead,  but  living  things.  Demons  rode  the 
ocean  like  a  weary  steed,  and  the  gigantic  pines  flapped 
their  sounding  wings  to  smite  the  spirit  of  the  storm. 

"Still  wilder  and  fiercer  were  these  influences  of 
Nature  in  desolate  Iceland,  than  on  the  mainland  of 
Scandinavia.  Fields  of  lava,  icebergs,  geysers  and  vol- 
canoes were  familiar  sights.  When  the  long  winter 
came,  and  the  snowy  Heckla  roared  through  the  sunless 
air,  and  thp.  flames  of  the  Northern  Aurora  flashed  along 
the  sky,  like  phantoms  from  Valhalla,  the  soul  of  the 
poet  was  filled  with  images  of  terror  and  dismay.  He 
bewailed  the  death  of  Baldur,  the  sun ;  and  saw  in  each 
eclipse  the  horrid  form  of  the  wolf,  Maanegarm,  who 
swallowed  the  moon  and  stained  the  sky  with  blood." 

Professor  W.  Fiske,  of  Cornell  University,  who  is 
uuuorbtedly  the  most  learned  northern  scholar  in  this 
country,  v/ho  has  spent  several  years  in  the  Scandinavian 
countries,  and  who  is  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  Iceland 
and  its  Sagas,  has  sent  me  the  following  lines  for  inser- 
tion in  this  appendix : 

"  It  is  not  nee  essary  to  dwell  on  the  value  of  Icelandic 
to  those  who  de   re  to  investigate  the  early  history  of  the 


THE   SCANDINAVIAN    LANGUAGES. 


lOT 


the 

the 


Teutonic  race.  The  religious  belief  of  our  remote  an- 
cestors, and  very  many  of  their  primitive  legal  and  social 
customs,  some  of  wliich  still  influence  the  daily  life  of 
the  people,  find  their  clearest  and  often  their  only  eluci- 
dation in  the  so-called  Eddie  and  Shaldic  lays,  and  in  the 
Sagas.  The  same  writings  form  the  sole  sources  of 
Scandinavian  history  before  the  fourteenth  century,  and 
they  not  infrequently  shed  a  welcome  ray  on  the  obscure 
annals  of  the  British  Islands,  and  of  several  continental 
nations.  They  furnish,  moreover,  an  almost  unique  ex- 
ample of  a  modern  literature  which  is  completely  indige- 
nous. The  old  Icelandic  literature,  which  Mobius  truly 
characterizes  as  *ein  Phiinomen  von  Standpuukte  der 
allgemeinen  Cultur  und  Literaturgeschichte,'  and  be- 
side which  the  literatures  of  all  the  other  early  Teutonic 
dialects — Gothic,  Old  High  German,  Saxon,  Frisian, 
and  Anglo-Saxon  —  are  as  a  drop  to  a  bucket  of  water, 
developed  itself  out  of  the  actual  life  of  the  people  under 
little  or  no  extraneous  influence.  In  this  respect  it  de- 
serves the  careful  study  of  every  student  of  letters.  For 
the  English-speaking  races  especially  there  is  nowhere, 
so  near  home,  a  field  promising  to  the  scholar  so  rich 
a  harvest.  The  few  translations,  or  attempted  transla- 
tions, which  are  to  be  found  in  English,  give  merely 
a  faint  idea  of  the  treasures  of  antique  wisdom  and 
sublime  poetry  which  exist  in  the  Eddie  lays,  or  of  the 
quaint  simplicity,  dramatic  action,  and  striking  realism 
which  characterize  the  historical  Sagas.  Nor  is  the 
modern  literature  of  the  language,  with  its  rich  and 
abundant  stores  of  folk-lore,  unworthy  of  regard." 

Benjamin  Lossing  says:  "It  is  back  to  the  Nor- 
wegian Vikings  we  must  look  for  the  hardiest  elements 
of  progress  in  the  United  States," 


108 


THE   SCANDINAVIAN    LANGUAGES. 


1^   f^ 
I' 


Ir 


111 


B.  F.  De  Costa. —  "  Let  us  remember  that  in  vindi- 
cating, the  Northmen  we  honor  those  who  not  only  give 
us  the  first  knowledge  possessed  of  the  American  conti- 
nent, but  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  much  besides  that 
we  esteem  valuable.  For  we  fable  in  a  great  measure 
when  we  speak  of  our  Saxon  inheritance ;  it  is  rather  from 
the  Northmen  that  we  have  derived  our  vital  energy,  our 
freedom  of  thought,  and,  in  a  measure  that  we  do  not  yet 
suspect,  our  strength  of  speech.  Yet,  happily,  the  people 
are  fast  becoming  conscious  of  their  indebtedness ;  so  that 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when 
the  Northmen  may  be  recognized  in  their  right  social, 
political  and  literary  characters,  and  at  the  same  time, 
as  navigators,  assu.iie  their  true  position  in  the  Pre-Co- 
lumbian Discovery  of  America. 

"The  twelfth  century  was  an  era  of  great  literary 
activity  in  Iceland,  and  the  century  following  showed 
the  same  zeal.  Finally  Iceland  possessed  a  body  of  prose 
literature  superior  in  quantity  and  value  to  that  of  any 
other  modern  nation  of  its  time.  Indeed,  the  natives  of 
Europe,  at  this  period,  had  no  prose  literature  in  ar} 
modern  language  spoken  by  the  people. 

"Yet  while  other  nations  were  without  a  literature, 
the  intellect  of  Iceland  was  in  active  exercise  and  works 
were  produced  like  the  Eddas  and  Heimskbingla, — 
works  which,  being  inspired  by  a  lofty  genius,  will  rank 
with  the  writings  of  Homer  and  Herodotus  while  time 
itself  endures." 

Says  Sir  Edmund  Head,  in  regard  to  the  Norwegian 
literature  of  the  tiuelfth  century :  "  No  doubt  there  were 
translations  in  Anglo-Saxon  from  the  Latin,  by  Alfred, 


THK    8i;ANI)TNAV1AN    LANGIAOES. 


109 


1» 


of  an  earlier  date,  but  there  was  in  truth  no  vernacuhir 
literature.  I  cannot  name,"  he  says,  "  any  work  in  higli 
or  low  German  prose  which  can  be  carried  back  to  this 
period.  In  France,  prose  writing  cannot  be  said  to  have 
begun  before  the  time  of  Villehardouin  (1204)  and  Join- 
ville  (1202);  Castilian  prose  certainly  did  not  begin  before 
the  time  of  Alfonso  X  (1252);  Don  Juan  Manvel,  the 
author  Comle  Luccmor,  was  not  born  till  1282.  The 
Cronica  General  de  Espana  was  not  composed  till  at 
least  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  About  the 
same  time  the  language  of  Italy  was  acquiring  that  soft- 
ness and  strength  which  were  destined  to  appear  so  con- 
spicuously in  the  prose  of  Bt  ccaccio  and  the  writers  of 
the  next  century. 

"  Of  course  there  was  more  or  less  poetry,  yet  poetry 
is  something  that  is  early  developed  among  tlie  rudest 
nations,  while  goodi  prose  tells  that  a  people  have  become 
highly  advanced  in  mental  culture." 

William  and  Mary  Howitt. —  ''There  is  nothing 
besides  the  Bible,  which  sits  in  a  divine  tranquillity  of 
unapproachable  nobility,  like  a  King  of  Kings  amongst 
all  other  books,  and  the  poem  of  Homer  itself,  which  can 
compare  in  all  the  elements  of  greatness  with  tiie  Edda. 
There  is  a  loftiness  of  stature  and  a  growth  of  muscle 
about  it  which  no  poets  of  the  same  race  have  ever  since 
reached.  The  obscurity  which  hangs  over  some  parts  of 
it,  like  the  deep  shadows  crouching  mid  the  ruins  of  the 
past,  is  probably  the  result  of  dilapidations ;  but,  amid 
this,  stand  forth  the  boldest  masses  of  intellectual  ma- 
sonry. We  are  astonished  at  the  wisdom  which  is  shaped 
into  maxims,  and  at  the  tempestuous  strength  of  passions 


110 


THE    SCANDINAVIAN    LANGUAGES. 


to  which  all  modem  emotions  appear  puny  and  con- 
strained. Amid  the  bright  sunlight  of  a  far-oflf  time, 
surrounded  by  the  densest  shadows  of  forgotten  ages, 
we  come  at  once  into  the  midst  of  gods  and  heroes,  god- 
desses and  fair  women,  giants  and  dwarfs,  moving  about 
in  a  world  of  wonderful  construction,  unlike  any  other 
worlds  or  creations  which  God  has  founded  or  man 
has  imagined,  but  still  beautiful  beyond  conception. 

"The  Icelandic  poems  have  no  parallel  in  all  the 
treasures  of  ancient  literature.  They  are  the  expressions 
of  the  souls  of  poets  existing  in  the  primeval  and  un- 
effeminated  earth.  They  are  limnings  of  men  and  women 
of  godlike  beauty  and  endowments,  full  of  the  vigor  of 
simple  but  impetuous  natures.  There  are  gigantic  pro- 
poi'tions  about  them.  There  are  great  and  overwhelming 
tragedies  in  them,  to  which  those  of  Greece  only  present 
any  parallels. 

"  The  Edda  is  a  structure  of  that  grandeur  and  im- 
portance that  it  deserves  to  be  far  better  known  to  us 
generally  than  it  is.  The  spirit  in  it  is  sublime  and 
colossal." 


Pliny  Miles.— "The  literary  history  of  Iceland  in 
the  early  ages  of  the  Republic  is  of  a  most  interesting 
character.  When  we  consider  the  limited  population  of 
the  country,  and  the  many  disadvantages  under  which 
they  labored,  their  literature  is  the  most  remarkable  on 
record.  The  old  Icelanders,  from  the  tenth  to  the  six- 
teenth century,  through  a  period  of  the  history  of  the 
world  when  little  intellectual  light  beamed  from  the  sur- 
rounding nations,  were  as  devoted  and  ardent  workers  in 
the  fields  of  history  and  poetry  as  any  community  in  the 


THE    SCANDINAVIAN    LANGUAGES. 


1:1 


world  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances.  Spring- 
ing from  the  Old  Norse  or  Norwegian  stock,  they  carried 
the  language  and  habits  of  their  ancestors  with  them  to 
their  highland  home.  Though  a  very  large  number  of 
our  English  words  are  derived  direct  from  the  Icelandic, 
yet  the  most  learned  and  indefatigable  of  our  lexicog- 
raphers, both  in  England  and  America,  have  acknowl- 
edged their  ignorance  of  this  language. 

"The  Eddas  abound  in  mythological  machinery  to 
an  extent  quite  equal  to  the  writings  of  Homer  and 
Virgil." 

The  learned  German  writer  Schlegel,  in  his  "  Es- 
thetics and  Miscellaneous  Works,"  says  :  "  If  any  monu- 
ment of  the  primitive  northern  world  deserves  a  place 
amongst  the  earlier  remains  of  the  South,  the  Icelandic 
Edda  must  be  deemed  worthy  of  that  distinction.  The 
spiritual  veneration  for  Nature,  to  which  the  sensual 
Greek  was  an  e^^.tire  stranger,  gushes  forth  in  the  mys- 
terious language  and  prophetic  traditions  of  the  North- 
ern Edda  with  a  full  tide  of  enthusiasm  and  inspiration 
sufficient  to  endure  for  centuries,  and  to  supply  a  whole 
race  of  future  bards  and  poets  with  a  precious  and  ani- 
mating elixir.  The  vivid  delineations,  the  rich,  glowing 
abundance  and  animation  of  the  Homeric  pictures  of 
the  world,  are  not  more  decidedly  superior  to  the  misty 
scenes  and  shadowy  forms  of  Ossian,  than  the  Northern 
Edda  is  in  its  sublimity  to  the  works  of  Hesiod." 

Prof.  Dr.  Deitrich  asserts  "  that  the  Scandinavian 
literature  is  extraordinarily  rich  in  all  kinds  of  writings." 

Hon.  George  P.  Marsh. — "It  must  suffice  to  re- 
mark that,  in  the  opinion  of  those  most  competent  to 


112 


TllK    SCANinNAVIAS    LANGUAGES. 


|!N 


judge,  the  Icelyndic  literature  has  never  been  surpassed, 
if  equaled,  in  all  that  gives  value  to  that  portion  of  his- 
tory which  consists  of  spirited  delineations  of  character 
and  faithful  and  lively  pictures  of  events  among  nations 
in  a  rude  state  of  society. 

"  That  the  study  of  the  Old  Northern  tongue  may 
have  an  important  bearing  on  English  grammar  and 
etymology,  will  be  obvious,  when  it  is  known  that  the 
Icelandic  is  most  closely  allied  to  the  Anglo-Saxon,  of 
which  so  few  monuments  are  extant ;  and  a  slight 
examination  of  its  structure  and  remarkable  syntactical 
character  will  satisfy  the  reader  that  it  may  well  deserve 
the  attention  of  the  philologist." 

The  excellent  writer,  Charles  L.  Brace,  in  speak- 
ing of  Iceland,  says :  "  The  Congress,  or  '  Althing,'  of 
the  Icelanders,  had  many  of  the  best  political  features 
which  have  distinguished  parliamentary  government  in 
all  branches  of  the  Teutonic  race  since.  Every  free- 
holder voted  in  it,  and  its  decisions  governed  all  inferior 
courts.  It  tried  the  lesser  magistrates,  and  chose  the 
presiding  ofl&cers  of  the  colony. 

"  To  this  remote  island  (Iceland)  came,  too,  that  re- 
markable profession,  who  were  at  once  the  poets,  his- 
torians, genealogists  and  moralists  of  the  Norse  race, 
the  Skalds.  These  men,  before  writing  was  much  in 
use,  handed  down  by  memory,  in  familiar  and  often 
alliterative  poetry,  the  names  and  deeds  of  the  brave 
Norsemen,  their  victories  on  every  coast  of  Europe, 
their  histories  and  passions,  and  wild  deaths,  their 
family  ties,  and  the  boundaries  of  their  possessions, 
their  adventures  and  voyages,  and  even  their  law  and 


TllK    SCANDINAVIAN    LANGUA(H<:h. 


113 


their  mythology.  In  fact,  all  that  history  and  legal  doc- 
uments, and  genealogical  records  and  poetry  transmit 
now,  was  handed  down  by  these  bards  of  the  Norsemen. 
Iceland  became  their  peculiar  center  and  home.  Here, 
in  bold  and  vivid  language,  they  recorded  in  works, 
which  posterity  will  never  let  die,  the  achievements  of 
the  Vikings,  the  conquest  of  almost  every  peojjle  in 
Europe  by  these  vigorous  pirates;  i\  Av  wild  ventures, 
their  contempt  of  pain  and  death,  their  absolute  joy  in 
danger,  combat  and  difficulty.  In  these,  the  oldest  re- 
cords of  our  (/.  e.,  the  Americans')  forefathers,  will  be 
found  even  among  these  wild  rovers  the  respect  for  law 
which  has  characterized  every  branch  of  the  Teutonic 
race  since;  here,  and  not  in  the  Swiss  cantons,  is  the 
beginning  of  Parliament  and  Congress  ;  here,  and  not 
with  the  Anglo-Saxons,  is  the  foundation  of  trial  by  jury; 
and  here,  among  their  most  ungoverned  wassail,  is  that 
high  reverence  for  woman,  which  has  again  come  forth  by 
inheritance  among  the  Anglo-Norse  Americans.  The 
ancestors  (at  least  morally)  of  Kaleigh  and  Nelson,  and 
Kane  and  Farragut,  appear  in  these  records,  among 
these  sea-rovers,  whose  passion  was  danger  and  venture 
on  the  waters.  Here,  too,  among  such  men  as  the 
*  Raven  Floki,'  is  the  prototype  of  those  American 
pioneers  who  follow  the  wild  birds  into  pathless  wilder- 
nesses to  found  new  republics.  And  it  is  the  Norse 
^'udal"  property,  not  the  European  feudal  property, 
tvhich  is  the  model  for  the  American  descendants  of  the 
ancient  Norseman. 

"  In  these  Icelandic  Sagas,  too,  is  portrayed  the  deep 
moral  sentiment  which  characterizes  the  most  ancient 
mythology  of  the  Teutonic  races.     Here  we  have  no 
6* 


II. 


114 


THE    SCANDINAVIAN    LANGLAGKS. 


ill 


III 


n 


dissolute  Pantheon,  with  gods  revelling  eternally  in 
earthly  vices,  and  the  evils  and  wrongs  of  humanity 
continued  forever.  Even  the  ghosts  of  the  Northmen 
have  the  muscle  of  the  race ;  they  are  no  pale  shadows 
flitting  through  the  Orcus.  The  dead  fight  and  eat  with 
the  vigor  of  the  living.  But  there  comes  a  dread  time 
when  destiny  overtakes  all,  both  human  and  divine 
beings,  and  the  universe  with  its  evil  and  wrong  musi 
perish  (Ragnarokr).  Yet  even  the  crack  of  doom  finds 
not  the  Norsemen  timid  or  fearing.  Gods  and  men  die 
in  the  heat  of  the  conflict;  and  there  survives  alone, 
Baldur,  the  *  God  of  Love,'  who  shall  create  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth. 

"  It  is  from  Iceland  that  we  get  the  wonderful  poetic 
and  mythologic  collections  of  the  Elder  and  Younger 
Eddas.  In  this  remote  island  the  original  Norse  lan- 
guage was  preserved  more  purely  than  it  was  in  Norway 
or  Denmark,  and  the  Icelandic  literature  shed  a  flood  of 
light  over  a  dark  and  barbarous  age.  Even  now  the 
modern  Icelanders  can  read  or  repeat  their  most  ancient 
Sagas  with  but  little  change  of  dialect. 

"  But  to  an  American,  one  of  the  most  interesting 
gifts  of  Iceland  to  the  world  is  the  record  of  the  dis- 
covery of  Northern  America  by  Icelandic  rovers  (?)  near 
the  year  1000. 

"We  think  few  scholars  can  carefully  read  these  Sagas, 
and  the  accompanying  in  regard  to  Greenland,  without 
a  conviction  that  the  Icelandic  and  Norwegian  Vikings 
did  at  that  early  period  discover  and  land  on  the  coast 
of  our  eastern  States.  *  *  *  The  shortest  winter 
day  is  stated  with  such  precision  as  to  fix  the  la.ti- 
ude  near  the  coast  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island. 


ll 


THE    SCAXniNAVIAN    LANOrAOES. 


115 


*  *  *   Iceland,  then,  luis  the  honor  of  having  discovered 
America. 

"That  volcanic-raised  island,  with  its  mountains  of 
ice  and  valleys  of  lava  and  ashes,  has  played  no  mean 
part  in  the  world's  history." — Christian  Union,  July  loy 
187Jf. 

The  famous  George  Stephens,  in  his  elaborate  work 
on  "Runic  Monuments,"  having  discussed  the  impor- 
tance of  studying  the  Scandinavian  languages  in  order 
that  many  of  our  fine  old  roots  may  again  creep  into 
circulation,  says :  "  Let  ws  (the  English)  study  the  Scan- 
dinavian languages,  and  ennoble  and  restore  our  mother 
tongue.  Let  the  Scandinavians  study  Old  English  as 
well  as  their  own  ancient  records,  give  up  mere  provincial 
views,  and  melt  their  various  duilects  into  one  shining, 
rich,  sweet  and  manly  speech,  as  we  have  done  in  Eng- 
land. Their  High  Northern  shall  then  live  forever,  the 
home  language  of  eight  millions  of  hardy  freemen,  our 
brothers  in  the  east  sea,  our  Warings  and  Guardsmen 
against  the  grasping  clutches  of  the  modern  Hun  and 
the  modern  Vandal  The  time  may  come  when  the 
kingdom  of  Canute  ruay  be  restored  in  a  nobler  shape, 
when  the  bands  of  Sea-kings  shall  rally  round  one 
Northern  Union  standard,  when  one  scepter  shall  sway 
the  seas  and  coasts  of  our  forefathers  from  the  Thames 
to  the  North  Cape,  from  Finland  to  the  Eider. 

"  We  have  watered  our  mother  i,ongue  long  enough 
with  bastard  Latin ;  let  us  now  brace  and  steel  it  with 
the  life-water  of  our  own  sweet  and  soft  and  rich  and 
shining  and  clear  ringing  and  manly  and  world-ranging, 
ever  dearest  English  I " 


116 


THE    SCANDINAVIAN    I-ANGlAilKU. 


.11 '  ■ 


In  his  preface  to  his  Icelandic  grammar,  Dr.  G.  W. 
Dasent  says:  "Putting  aside  the  study  of  Old  Norse 
for  the  sake  of  its  magnificent  literature,  and  consider- 
ing it  merely  as  an  accessory  help  for  the  English  student, 
we  shall  find  it  of  immense  advantage,  not  only  in  trac- 
ing the  rise  of  words  and  idioms,  but  still  more  in  clear- 
ing up  many  dark  points  in  our  early  history;  in  fact, 
so  highly  do  I  value  it  in  this  respect,  that  I  cannot 
imagine  it  possible  to  write  a  satisfactory  history  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  period  without  a  thorougli  knowledge  of 
the  Old  Norse  literature." 

Dr.  Dasent,  in  his  introduction  to  Cleasby's  and 
Vigfusson's  Icelandic  Dictionary,  says  of  Iceland :  "  No 
other  country  in  Europe  possesses  an  ancient  vernacular 
to  be  compared  with  this."  And  again:  "Whether  in 
a  literary  or  in  a  philological  point  of  view,  no  literature 
in  Europe  in  the  middle  ages  can  compete  in  interest 
with  that  of  Iceland.  It  is  not  certainly  in  forma  pan- 
peris  that  she  appears  at  the  tribunal  of  learning."  In 
another  place  he  remarks :  "  In  it  (the  Dictionary)  the 
English  student  now  possesses  a  key  to  that  rich  store  of 
knowledge  which  the  early  literature  of  Iceland  possesses. 
He  may  read  the  Eddas  and  Sagas,  which  contain  sources 
of  delight  and  treasures  of  learning  such  as  no  other 
language  but  that  of  Iceland  possesses." 

The  distinguished  German  scholar,  ExTMtJrLLER,  in 
comparing  the  literature  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  with  that 
of  the  Icelanders,  says:  "Neither  the  Goths,  nor  the 
Germans,  nor  the  French,  can  be  compared  with  the 
Anglo-Saxons  in  the  cultivation  of  letters.  By  the  Scan- 
dinavians alone,  they  are  not  only  equaled,  but  also  sur- 


r,?  \- 


THi:    HCAMiIN AVIAN    I.ANfUAGKS. 


117 


passed  in  litemtuiv."  And  again:  "  If  the  Scandinavians 
excel  in  lyric  poetry,  the  Anglo-Saxons  can  boast  of  their 
epic  poetry.  If  the  famous  island  in  the  remote  North- 
ern Sea  applied  itself  with  distinguished  honor  to  his- 
torical studies,  the  isle  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  is  especially 
entitled  to  praise  from  the  fact  iiiat  it  produced  orators, 
who,  considering  the  time  in  which  they  lived,  were  de- 
cidedly excellent." 

Max  MfLLER,  in  his  "Science  of  Language,"  says: 
"There  is  a  third  stream  of  Teutonic  speech,  which  it 
would  be  impossible  to  place  in  any  but  a  co-ordinate 
position  with  regard  to  Gothic,  Low  and  High  German. 
This  is  the  Scandinavian  branch." 

In  Wheaton's  "  History  of  the  Northmen,"  we  find 
the  following  passages:  "The  Icelanders  cherished  and 
cultivated  the  language  and  literature  of  their  ancestors 
witli  remarkable  success.  *  *  *  jjj  Iceland  an 
independent  literature  grew  up,  flourished,  and  was 
brought  to  a  certain  degree  of  perfection  before  the  re- 
vival of  learning  in  the  south  of  Europe.'^ 

Robert  Buchanan,  the  eminent  English  writer,  in 
reviewing  the  modern  Scandinavian  literature,  says: 
"While  German  literature  darkens  under  the  malignant 
star  of  Deutschthum,  while  French  art,  sickening  of  its 
long  disease,  crawls  like  a  leper  through  the  light  and 
wholesome  world,  while  all  over  the  European  continent 
one  wan  influence  or  another  asserts  its  despair-engen- 
dering sway  over  books  and  men,  whither  shall  a  be- 
wildered student  fly  for  one  deep  breath  of  pure  air  and 
wholesome  ozone  ?    Goethe  and  Heine  have  sung  their 


r  :■ 


118 


THE    SCANDINAVIAN    LAN(iUAGE8. 


if '  '' 


I 


best  —  and  worst;  Alfred  de  Miisset  is  dead,  and  Victor 
Hngo  is  turned  politician.  Grillpurzer  is  still  a  mystery, 
tl.iinks  partly  to  the  darkening  medium  of  Cailyle's 
hostile  criticism.  From  the  ashes  of  Teutonic  tran- 
scendentalism rises  Wagner  like  a  Phoenix, —  a  bird  too 
uncommon  for  ordinary  comprehension,  but  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes  an  anomaly  at  best.  One  tires  of 
anomalies,  one  sickens  of  politics,  one  shudders  at  the 
petticoat  literature  first  created  at  Weimar;  and  looking 
east  and  west,  ranging  with  a  true  invalid's  hunger  the 
literary  horizon,  one  searches  for  something  more  natu- 
ral, f  )r  some  form  of  indigenous  and  unadorned  love- 
liness, wherewith  to  fleet  the  time  pleasantly,  as  they 
did  in  the  golden  world. 

"  That  something  may  be  found  without  traveling 
very  far.  Turn  northward,  in  the  footsteps  of  Teufels- 
drochk,  traversing  the  great  valleys  of  Scandinavia,  and 
not  halting  until,  like  the  philosopher,  you  look  upon 
'that  slowly  heaving  Polar  Ocean,  over  which  in  the 
utmost  north  the  great  sun  hangs  low.'  Quiet  and  peace- 
ful lies  Norway  yet  as  in  the  world's  morning.  The 
flocks  of  summer  tourists  alight  upon  her  shores,  and 
scatter  themselves  to  their  numberless  stations,  without 
disturbing  the  peaceful  serenity  of  her  social  life.  *  *  * 
The  government  is  a  virtual  democracy,  such  as  would 
gladden  the  heart  of  Gambetta,  tlie  Swedish  monarch's 
rule  over  Norway  being  merely  titular.  There  are  no 
hereditary  nobles.  There  is  no  *gag'  on  the  press. 
Science  and  poetry  alike  flourish  on  this  free  soil.  The 
science  is  grand  as  Nature  herself,  cosmic  as  well  as 
microscopic.  The  poetry  is  fresh,  light,  and  pellucid, 
worthy  of  the  race,  and  altogether  free  from  Parisian 
taint." 


THK    SCANDTNAVIAN    LANGrAGES. 


119 


lan 


"Bjornstjerne  Bjornson,*  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent of  living  Norwegian  authors,  is  something  more 
than  even  the  finest  pastoral  taleteller  of  this  generation. 
He  is  a  dramatist  of  extraordinary  power.  He  does  not 
possess  the  power  of  imaginative  fancy  shown  by  Werge- 
landf  (in  such  pieces  as  Jan  van  Huysums  Blomster- 
dyhke),  nor  Welhaven'sJ  refinement  of  phrase,  nor  the 
wild,  melodious  abandon  of  his  greatest  rival,  the  author 
of  Peer  Gyut  :\  but,  to  my  thinking  at  least,  he  stands 
as  a  poet  in  a  far  higher  rank  than  any  of  these  writers. 

"  In  more  than  one  respect,  particularly  in  the  loose, 
disjointed  structure  of  the  piece,  ^Sigurd  Slembe'  re- 
minds one  of  Goethe's '  Goetz,'  but  it  deals  with  materials 
far  harder  to  assimilate,  and  is  on  the  whole  a  finer 
picture  of  romantic  manners.  Audhild  (a  prominent 
character  in  'Sigurd  Slemhe')  is  a  creation  worthy  of 
Goethe  at  his  best;  worthy,  in  my  opinion,  to  rank  with 
Claerchen,  Marguerite  and  Mignon  as  a  masterpiece  of 
delicate  characterization.  And  here  I  may  observe,  inci- 
dentally, that  Bjornson  excels  in  his  pictures  of  delicate 

*  BjiiRNSTjERNE  BjOrnson  was  bom  in  1832;  has  written  several  novels, 
dramas  and  epic  poems.  " Sigxird  Slembe'"  is  a  drama,  published  in  18<i3,  of 
which  Robert  Buchanan  says:  "It  is,  besides  being  a  masterpiece  by  its 
author,  a  drama  of  which  any  living  European  author  might  be  justly  proud." 
Several  of  his  novels,  including  "Arne,"  "A  linppy  Boy.''  "The  Fisher- 
maiden."  have  been  translated  into  English. 

t  Henrik  Arnold  Weroeland  was  born  in  1808.  and  died  in  1845.  He  i" 
the  Byron  of  the  North.  His  works  comprise  nine  ponderous  volume?.  Fie 
excelled  in  lyrics. 

t  John  Sebastian  Welhaven,  born  in  1807.  died  in  1M7.3.  Remarkable  for 
the  elegance  and  chssteness  of  his  style.  No  poet  has  more  beautifully  and 
correctly  described  the  natural  scenery  of  Norway. 

1!  The  author  of  "  Peer  Gyut "  is  Henrik  Ibsen,  born  in  1828.  Was  en- 
gaged by  Ole  Bull  as  instructor  at  the  theatre  in  Bergen,  which  position  he 
occupied  six  years.  He  has  written  several  dramatic  works,  chiefly  of  a 
polemic  and  exceedingly  satirical  nature.  Many  of  his  countrymen  prefei 
Ibsen  to  BjOrnBon.    His  last  work  is  "  KeUer  og  OalUaier.'^ 


'.(' 


120 


THE   SCANDINAVIAN    LANGUAGES. 


I 


'If 

m 


feminine  types, —  a  proof,  if  proof  were  wanting,  that  he 
is  worthy  to  take  rank  with  the  highest  class  of  poetic 
creators." 

1  might  add  to  the  above  quotations  from  Max  M fil- 
ler, the  brothers  Grimm  and  many  other  eminent  writers ; 
but  in  the  first  place  this  article  is  long  enough,  and  in 
the  next  place  the  works  of  the  last  named  authors  are 
accessible  to  all  who  may  wish  to  investigate  this  sub- 
ject further.  My  object  has  been  to  show  that,  in  the 
opinion  of  those  who  have  studied  the  subject,  the  North 
has  a  history,  language  and  literature  deserving  and 
amply  rewarding  some  attention  from  American  stu- 
dents. Of  the  good  or  ill  performance  of  this  task  the 
reader,  whom  I  earnestly  request  carefully  to  consider 
the  contents  of  these  pages,  must  be  the  judge. 


PUBLISHED  BY  S.C.  GRIGGS  &»  CO,,  CHICAGO. 


ANDERSON'S  NORSE  MYTHOLOGY;  or  The  Religion 

of  Our  ForefatlierS. — Containing  all  the  Myths  of  the  Eddas  carefully 
systematized  and  interpreted,  with  an  Introduction,  Vocabulary  and  Index. — By 
R.  B.  Andbrson,  a.  M.,  Professor  of  Scandinavian  Languages,  in  the  University 
of  Wisconsin.    Crown  8vo,  cloth,  ^2  50 ;  full  gilt,  I3  00  ;  half  calf,  I5  00. 

"Professor  Anderson  has  produced  a  monograph  which  may  be  regarded  as 
exhaustive  in  all  its  relations."— 7%*  Neiu  York  Tribune. 

"A  masterly  work.  .  .  No  American  book  of  recent  years  does  equal  credit 
to  American  scholarship,  or  is  deserving  of  a  more  pronounced  success." — Boston 
Globe. 

"\  have  been  struck  with  the  warm  glow  of  enthusiasm  pervading  it,  and  with 
the  attractiveness  of  its  descriptions  and  discussions.  I  sincerely  wish  it  a  wide 
circulation  and  careful  study." — William  Dwigkt  IVhitney,  Professor  of  Sanscrit 
and  Comparative  Philology,  Yale  College. 

"I  like  it  decidedly.  A  mythologist  must  be  not  only  a  scholar  but  a  bit  of  a 
poet,  otherwise  he  will  never  understand  that  petrified  poetry  out  of  which  the 
mythology  of  every  nation  is  built  up.  You  seem  to  me  to  have  that  gift  of  poetic 
divination,  and,  therefore,  whenever  I  approach  the  dark  runes  of  the  Edda,  I  shall 
gladly  avail  myself  of  your  help  and  guidance." 

Yours  truiy,  F.  Max  Muller,  University  of  Oxford. 

"We  have  never  seen  so  complete  a  view  of  the  religrion  of  the  Norsemen. 
The  Myths  which  Prof.  Anderson  has  translated  for  us  are  characterized  by  a  wild 
poetry  and  by  suggestions  of  strong  thought.  We  see  images  of  singular  beauty 
in  the  landscape  of  ice  and  snow.  Sparks  of  fire  are  often  struck  out  from  these 
verses  of  flint  and  steel." — Bibliotheca  Sacra. 

"Professor  Anderson  is  an  enthusiastic  as  well  as  an  able  scholar  ;  and  he 
imparts  his  enthusiasm  to  his  readers.  His  volume  is  deeply  interesting  as  well  as 
in  a  high  degree  instructive.  No  such  account  of  the  old  Scandinavian  Mythology 
has  hitherto  been  given  in  the  English  language.  It  is  full,  and  elucidates  the 
subject  in  all  points  of  view.  It  contains  abundant  illustrations  in  literal  and 
poetic  translations  from  the  Eddas  and  Sagas.  .  ,  Professor  Anderson's  inter- 
pretations of  the  myths  throw  new  light  upon  them,  and  arc  valuable  additions  (as  is 
the  whole  work)  to  the  history  of  religion  and  of  literature.  ,  .  It  deserves  to 
be  welcomed,  not  only  as  most  creditable  to  American  scholarship,  but  also  as  an 
indication  of  the  literary  enterprise  which  is  surely  growing  up  in  our  North-western 
States." — The  Presbyterian  Quarterly  and  Princeton  Review. 


AMERICA  NOT    DISCOVERED    BY   COLUMBUS.-A 

Historical  Sketch  of  the  Discovery  of  America  by  the  Norsemen  in  the  zoth  cent- 
ury. By  Prof.  R.  B.  Andbrson,  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  with  an  Appendix 
on  the  Historical,  Literary  and  Scientific  value  of  the  Scandinavian  Languages. 

Price,  13mo,  cloth |i  00 

"A  valuable  addition  to  American  history.  The  object  is  fully  described  in  its 
title  page,  and  the  author's  narrative  is  very  remarkable.  ♦  •  *  The  book  i» 
fiill  of  surprising  statements,  and  will  be  read  with  something  like  wondennent."— 
N0U*  mnd  Queries,  London, 


PUBLISHED  BY  S.  C.   GRIGGS  &-  CO.,  CHICAGO. 


tf'' 


I 


m 


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VIKING  TALES  OF  THE  HORTH.-lhe  Sagas  of  Thorstein.Vik- 
ing's  Son,  and  Fridthjof  the  Bold.  Tranr.iated  from  the  Icelandic  by  Prof.  R.  B. 
Anderson,  Author  of  "Norse  Mythology,"  and  Jon  Bjarnason.  Also,  Stephens's 
translation  of  Tegner's  "  Fridthjof's  SAr.A."  Complete  in  one  volume,  12mo; 
Cloth,  S9.00. 

"A  charming  book  it  is.  Your  work  is  in  every-way  cleverly  done.  *  • 
The  quaintly,  delightful  sagas  ought  to  charm  many  thousands  of  readers,  and  your 
translation  is  of  the  best."— »7//«rrf  Fiske,  M.  A.,  Ph.  D.,  Prof,  of  tht  North 
European  Languages ,  Cornell  University. 

"This  work,  as  a  whole,  will  please  and  instruct  all  classes  of  readers,  and  espe- 
cially those  who  wish  to  search  out  the  antiquities  of  Scandinavian  literature.  Rut 
every  one  will  be  struck  with  the  majesty  and  force  of  that  old  poetry  of  the  north." 
—  The  Churchman,  New  York. 

"The  literal  translations  of  Anderson  and  Bjarnason  are  full  of  interest  of  a  rare 
kind.  *  •  Whoever  fails  to  read  them,  will  lose  a  rare  fund  of  that  peculiar  wealth 
of  thought  and  feeling  which  is  suggested  by  the  earlier,  simpler  life  of  mankind." — 
The  Christian  Union,  New  York. 

"Prof  Anderson's  book  is  a  very  valuable  and  important  one.  The  'Saga  of 
Thorstein,  Viking's  Son,'  *  *  teems  with  magnificently  dramatic  situations,  the 
impress! veness  of  which  are  rather  increased  by  the  calm  directness  and  dignity  with 
which  they  are  related.  And  these  features  are  as  characteristic  of  the  English  ver- 
sion as  of  the  Icelandic  originals.  The  translator  shows  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  all  the  intricacies  of  that  cruelly  inflected  language,  and  an  enthusiastic  appre- 
ciation of  its  epigrammatic  pith  and  vigor.  *  •  TegneVs  celebrated  poem  *Fridth- 
jofs  Saga,'  is  sufficiently  novel  in  its  theme  and  abounding  in  melody  and  rhythm 
to  yield  a  large  measure  of  enjoyment." — The  Nation,  New  York, 


FRIDTHJOF'S  SAGA.— A  Norse  Romance.  By  EsAiAS  Tbgner 
Translated  from  the  Swedish  by  Thos.  A.  E.  Holcomb  and  Martha  A.  Lyon 
HoLCOMB.    One  volume,  ISmo,  Cloth,  91.50. 

''Its  beauties  are  innumerable.  The  grand  old  Viking  spirit  glows  in  every  line." 
—Christian  Leader ^  N,  Y. 

'"Fridthjofs  Saga'  so  beautifully  embalmed  in  English  verse,  must  become  a 
household  treasure  among  lovers  of  elegant  and  curious  literature." — Si.  Louis 

Times. 

"No  one  can  peruse  this  noble  poem  without  arising  therefrom  with  a  loftier  idea 

of  human  bravery  and  a  better  conception  of  human  love." — Inter-Ocean^  Chicago. 

''Wherever  one  opens  the  poem  he  is  sure  to  light  upon  passages  of  exquisite 
beauty.  Longfellow  styles  it  the  noblest  poetic  contribution  which  Sweden  has  yet 
made  to  the  literary  history  of  the  world." — Church  Journal,  New  York. 

"  'Fridthjofs  Saga'  is  an  interesting  story,  told  with  great  skill,  tenderness  and 
picturesque  language,  while  the  characters  are  discriminated  with  a  talent  worthy 
of  the  most  observant  student  of  human  nature.  *  *  *  Sweden  in  the  person  of 
Bishop  Tegner,  offers  the  true  poet,  who,  in  describing  the  struggles  of  souls,  has 
produced  an  immortal  poem.  *  *  The  Holcomb  translation  is  so  well  done  that 
it  would  be  difficult  to  better  it  in  any  single  xts^tKX," —Botton  Gazette. 


1 


PUBLISHED  BY  S.  C.  GRIGGS  dr*  CO.,  CHICAGO. 

THE  PILOT  AND  HIS  WIFE.-By  Jonas  Lie.  Translated  from 
the  Norse  by  Mks.  Olb  Bull.    l£mo,  Cloth.    81. CO. 

"The  book  nbounds  in  ;i  rare  poetic  force." — The  Nat'on, 

"Lie  is  a  noYelist  of  very  marked  genius." — North  American  Review, 

"It  opens  to  English  readers  new  and  vivid  fields  of  romance." — Hartford  Post, 

"It  fascinates  the  attention  and  moves  the  feelings  with  a  strange  power,  and 
when  the  bu.ik  is  finished  it  is  easy  to  realize  that  we  have  been  under  the  spell  of  a 
xt\.SL^\.^x ." — Appleton' s  yournal. 

"In  manner,  plot  and  treatment,  it  is  so  totally  different  from  all  other  writings 
as  to  excite  the  liveliest  interest.  *  *  Lie  is  a  writer  of  marked  peculiarities  and 
rare  genius.  His  dramatic  powers  are  intense,  but  his  presentations  of  the  passions 
and  inspirations,  the  workings  of  heart,  and  the  struggles  of  soul,  are  more  vivid  and 
striking  still.  *  *  The  beauty  and  poetry  of  the  novel  is  found  in  the  literary 
workmanship  which  gives  us  the  character  of  'Elizabeth.'  It.  is  essentially  an  orig- 
inal character,  and  a  pure  and  noble  conception." — Sacramento  Daily  Union. 

"It  is  a  remarkably  attractive  book.  *  *  Some  of  the  characters  nre  exqui- 
sitely drawn,  notably  those  of  the  pilot  and  his  wife  B^lizfoeth.  The  latter  is  a 
delightful  creature.  The  reader  cannot  but  be  struck  by  the  intense  power  with 
which  the  author  manages  the  pathetic  incidents  of  his  story,  and  with  the  natural- 
ness that  pervades  the  whole.  The  artistic  workmanship  will  strike  every  person  of 
thought  and  culture,  while  the  vivid  descriptions  in  the  more  exciting  portions  will 
fully  absorb  the  attention  of  those  who  read  only  for  amusement.  There  is  a  fresh- 
Xi'-..  -ind  originality  in  the  book,  an  out-door  flavor  and  breeziness,  that  cannot  fail 
to  will  for  it  a  high  degree  of  favor.  ' — Boston  Gazette, 


PETERSON'S     NORWEGIAN -DANISH     GRAMMAR 

AND  READER. — With  a  Vocabulary,  designed  for  American  Students  of  tl\c 
Norwegian- Danish  Language.  By  Rev.  C.  I.  P.  Peterson,  Professor  of  Scandina* 
vian  Literature.    13mo,  Cloth,    f  1.26. 

"I  may  say  that  I  have  myself  read  through  the  Norwegian-Danish  Grammar 
of  Peterson,  and  when  I  affirm  that  I  find  myself  able  to  translate  the  reading  exer- 
cise.s  >vith  great  readiness,  it  may  be  inferred  how  well  the  book  is  adapted  to  for- 
ward one  in  a  knowledge  of  this  interesting  but  neglected  language." — A.  Wincheli, 
LL.D.  Professor  in  Vanderbilt  University,  late  Chancellor  of  the  University  oj 
^racuse. 

"I  rejoice  to  ..ee  the  door  opened  to  American  Students  to  the  treasures  of  Nor- 
wegian letters,  and  in  so  attractive  a  manner  as  in  Mr.  Peterson's  work.  No  more 
useful  direction  for  philological  study  opens  to  English  scholars  now  than  the  re- 
search into  Anglo-Saxon  and  Norse  Northern  tongues.  This  work  will  bi.-  surely  a 
valuable  help  in  this  direction." — Prof.  Frank  Sewell,  President  t(f  Urbttna  Uni' 
versity. 


PUBLISHED  BY  S.   C.  GRIGGS  S^  CO.,  CHICAGU. 


L'tH 


i! 


i' 


r; '  *' 


Price,  I  vol.^  lamo.,  Cloth $2 

The  same,  gilt  edges 2  50 


GETTING  ON  IN  THE  WORLD;  or,  Hints  on  Suc- 
cess in  Life.—  B>  Wm.  Mathews,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  English  Literature^ 
etc.,  in  the  University  of  Chicago.    Beautifully  printed  and  handsomely  bound. 

Half  calf  binding,  gilt  top $3  50 

Full  calf,  gilt  edges 5  cx> 

Contents  :  —  Success  and  Failure  —  Good  and  Bad  Luck  —  Choice  0/ a  Pro- 

/etsion  —  Physical  Culture  —  Concentration  —  Self- Reliance  —  Originility  in 

Aims  and  Methods  —  Attention   to    Details  —  Practical   Talent — Decision  — 

Manner — Business  Habits — Self-Advertising — The   Will  and  the   Way — 

Reserved  Power  —  Economy  0/  Time  —  Money y  its  Use  and  Abuse  —  Mercantile 

Failures  —  Over-  Work  and  Under-Rest  —  True  and  False  Success. 


'^  A  book  in  the  highest  degree  attractive,  *  *  and  which  will  be  sure  to/d,^ 
in  dollars  and  cents  many  times  over  the  cost  of  the  work,  and  the  time  devoted 
to  its  perusal." — Lockport  Journal^  New  li'ork. 

"  It  is  sound,  morally  and  mentally.  It  gives  no  one-sided  view  of  life ;  it  does 
not  pander  to  the  lower  nature  ;  but  it  is  high-toned,  correctly  toned  throughout. 
*  *  There  is  an  earnestness  and  even  eloquence  in  this  volume  which  makes 
the  author  appear  to  speak  to  us  from  the  living  page.  It  reads  like  a  speech. 
There  is  an  electric  fire  about  every  sentence." — Episcopal  Register y  Philadelphia. 

''^  There  is  no  danger  of  speaking  in  too  high  terms  of  praise  of  this  volume. 
As  a  work  of  art  it  is  a  gem.  As  a  counselor  it  speaks  the  wisdom  of  the  ages.  As  a 
teacher  it  illustrates  the  true  philosophy  of  life  by  the  experience  of  eminent  men  of 
every  class  and  calling.  It  warns  by  the  story  of  signal  failures,  and  encourages  by 
the  record  uf  triumphs  that  seemed  impossible.  It  is  a  book  of  facts  and  not  of 
theories.  The  men  who  have  succeeded  in  life  are  laid  under  tribute,  and  made  to 
divulge  the  secret  of  their  success.  They  give  vastly  more  than  '  hints  ;'  they 
make  a  revelation.  They  show  that  success  lies  not  in  luck,  but  in  pluck. 
Instruction  and  inspiration  ar«  the  chief  features  of  the  work  which  Prof.  Mathews 
has  done  in  this  volume," — Christian  Era,  Boston. 


THE  GREAT  CONVERSERS,  and  Other  Essays.- 

By  Wm.  Mathews,  LL.D.,  author  of  "  Getting  On  in  the  World." 

I  volume,  i2mo.,  306  pages,  with  Map,  price $1  75 

"As  fascinating  as  anything  in  fiction." — Concord  Monitor. 

"  These  pages  are  crammed  with  interesting  facts  about  literary  men  and  lite< 
rary  work." — New  York  Evening  Mail, 

"They  are  written  in  that  charming  and  graceful  style,  which  is  so  attractive 
in  this  author's  writings,  and  the  reader  is  continually  reminded  by  their  ease  and 
grace  of  the  elegant  compositions  of  Goldsmith  and  Irving." — Boston  Transcript, 

"  Twenty  essays,  all  treating  lively  and  agreeable  themes,  and  in  the  easy, 
polished  and  sparkling  style  that  has  made  the  author  famous  as  an  essayist.  *  * 
The  most  striking  characteristic  of  Prof.  Mathew!:*  writing  is  its  wonderful  wealth 
of  illustratifln.  *  *  One  will  make  the  acquaintance  of  more  authors  in  the 
course  of  a  single  one  of  his  essays  than  are  probably  to  be  met  with  in  the  same 
limited  space  anywhere  else  in  the  whole  realm  of  our  literature." — The  Chicago 
Tribune. 


PUBLISHED  By  S.   C.    GRIGGS  &>  CO.,    CHICAGO. 

WORDS  ;  THEIR  USE  AND  ABUSE,  By  Prof.  Wm.  Mathews. 
Aiilhor  of  "Getting  on  in  the  World,"    "1  he  Great  Conversers,"  Etc., #2  00. 

*»A  book  of  rare  Interest.'*— ^ro^A/j-w  Eaglt. 
"Every  page  sparkles  with  literary  gems." — The  Interior. 
"An  interesting,  well-written  and  instructive  soXyxia^."  —Indtpendent^  N.  Y. 
"Every  literary  man  and  woman  should  read  it.'* — Sunday  Times,  N.  Y, 
"A  valuable  companion  for  writers,  talkers  and  people  generally."— ^c;^/^^ 
yifurnai. 

"Although  written  for  popular  reading,  they  are  scholarly  and  instructive,  and 
in  a  very  high  degree  entertaining.  No  one  can  turn  to  a  single  pagw  of  the  book  with- 
out finding  something  worth  reading  and  worth  remembering.  It  is  a  book  both  for 
Mbraries  and  general  r'^ading,  as  scholars  will  not  disdain  its  many  valuable  illustra- 
ions,  while  the  rising  writer  will  find  in  it  a  perfect  wealth  of  rules  and  suggestions 
to  help  him  form  a  good  style  of  expression." — Publishers'  IVeehfy,  New  York. 

"To  this  large  class,  (the  great  body  of  our  people  in  every  rank,  occupation 
and  profession)  it  will  prove  a  most  entertaining  recreation  and  useful  study.  Young 
men  in  higher  schools,  academies  and  colleges  will  also  find  it  a  useful  and  helpful 
guide,  which  will  not  only  save  them  from  committing  vulgar  solecisms  and  awkward 
verbal  improprieties,  but  from  contracting  vicious  habits  that  will  stick  to  them,  if 
once  suffered  to  be  formed,  like  the  shirt  of  Nessus."— CArtr/iaw  Intelligencer, New 
York. 

"The  final  chapter  on  'Common  Improprieties  of  Speech'  should  be  pnntea  in 
tract  form.  .  ,  .  We  should  like  to  put  a  copy  of  this  book  into  the  hands  of  every 
man  and  woman  iNho  IS  using  or  intends  to  use,  our  good  old  Anglo-Saxon  with 
voice  or  pen  for  any  public  service.  It  is  a  text  book,  full  of  information,  and  con- 
tains hints,  rules,  criticisms  and  illustrations,  which  authenticate  their  own  value."^ 
Christian  at  Work,  New  York 


TWO  YEARS   IN    CALIFORNIA,    By  Mary  Cone.    With  15  f.ne 
engravings,  a  map  of  California,  and  a  plan  of  the  Yosemite  Valley.    Cloth |1.75 

"One  of  the  most  reliable  and  authentic  works  on  California  yet  issued."— 5»«<^ 
day  Times,  New  York. 

"One  of  the  best  descriptions  of  the  Golden  State  that  has  met  our  eye,    .    . 
unbiassed,  impartial,  and  intelligent," — Christian  at  Work,  New  York. 

"This  is  a  book  of  absorbing  interest.    .    .    No  description  can  do  justice  to 
it.     Every  page  deserves  to  be  read  and  studied." — Albany  yournal, 

"It  would  be  difficult  to  compress  within  the  same  limits  more  really  valuable 
information  on  the  subject  treated  than  is  here  given."— iW^rwi**^  Star^  Boston. 

"Will  be  of  much  value  to  every  one  who  contemplates  either  visiting  or  emi- 
garting  to  California."— AVw  York  Evening  Mail, 


PUBLISHED  BY  S.C  GRIGGS  <Sr*  CO.,  CHICAGO. 


PRE-HISTORIC  RACES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

By  J.  W.  Foster,  LL.D.,  Author  of  "  The  Physical  Geography  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,*'  etc.    415  pages,  crown  8vo,  with  a  large  number  of  illustrations. 

Price,  cloth $3  50 

Half  calf  binding,  gilt  top 600 

Full  calf,  gilt  edges 7  50 

"  One  of  the  best  and  clearest  accounts  wc  have  seen  of  those  grand  monument! 
of  a  forgotten  race." — London  Saturday  Review. 

"  The  reader  will  find  it  more  fascinating  than  his  last  favorite  novel." — 
Eclectic  Magazine,  N.  1'. 

"  The  book  is  literally  crowded  with  astonishing  and  valuable  facts."— 
Boston  Post, 

"  it  is  an  elegant  volume  and  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  subject.  *  *  * 
Contains  just  the  kind  of  information  in  cleur,  compressed  and  intelligible  form, 
which  is  adapted  to  the  mass  of  readers."— ^///^/^m'j  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

"  The  book  is  typographically  perfect,  and  with  its  admirable  illustrations  and 
convenient  index  is  really  elegant  and  a  sort  of  luxury  to  possess  and  read.  *  * 
Dr.  Foster's  style  reminds  us  of  Tyndall  and  Proctor,  at  their  best.  *  *  He 
goes  over  the  ground,  inch  by  inch,  and  accumulates  information  of  surprising 
jnterest  and  importance,  bearing  on  this  subject,  which  he  gives  in  his  crowded  but 
most  instructive  and  entertaining  chapters  in  a  thoroughly  scientific  but  equally 
popular  way.  We  have  marked  whole  pages  of  his  book  for  quotation,  and  finally 
from  sheer  necessity  have  been  compelled  to  put  the  wh"'e  volume  in  quotation 
marks,  as  &ne  of  the  few  books  that  are  indispensable  to  the  student,  and  scarcely 
less  important  for  the  intelligent  reader  to  have  at  hmnd  for  reference." — Golden 
Age^  Ntw  York. 


A  MANUAL  OF  GESTURE.- With  over  100  Figures, 
embracing  a  complete  system  of  Notation,  with  the  Principles  of  Interpretation 
and  Selections  for  Practice.    By  Prof.  A.  M.  Bacon. 

Price $1  75 

"  Prof,  Bacon  has  given  us  a  work  that,  in  thoroughness  and  practical  value, 
deserves  to  rank  among  the  most  remarkable  books  of  the  season.  There  has  in 
'fact,  been  no  work  on  the  subject  yet  offered  to  the  public  which  approaches  it  for 
exhaustivenesB  and  completeness  of  detail.  *  *  It  is  of  the  utmost  value, 
not  merely  to  students,  but  to  lawyers,  clergymen,  teachers,  and  public  speakers, 
and  its  importance  as  an  assistant  in  the  formation  of  a  correct  and  appropriate 
style  of  action  can  hardly  be  over-sstiraated." — The  Philadelphia  Inquirer. 

"  Prof.  Bacon's  Manual  seems  expressly  arranged  for  the  help  of  those  w4io 
study  alone  and  have  undertaken  self-instruction  in  the  art  of  persuasive  delivery. 
The  work  in  the  hands  of  our  ministry,  well  studied,  would  have  the  effect  of 
emphasizing  the  living  words  of  the  Gospel  all  over  the  land,  and  making  them 
two-«dged  with  meaning."— Tlif  Chicago  Pulpit. 


PUBLISHED  BY  S.   C.   GRIGGS  &*  CO.,   CHICAGO. 

ROBERT'S  RULES  OF  ORDER,  For  Deliberative  Assemblies.— 
By  Major  H.  M.  Robert,  Corps  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  A.    Pocket  size,  cloth,  76  cents. 

This  book  is  far  superior  to  any  other  parliamentary  manual  in  the  English 
language.  It  gives  in  the  simplest  form  possible  all  the  various  rules  or  points  of 
law  or  order  that  can  arise  in  the  deliberations  of  any  lodge,  grange,  debating 
club,  literary  society,  convention,  or  other  organized  body,  and  every  rule  is  com- 
plete in  itself,  and  as  easily  found  as  a  word  in  a  dictionary.  Its  crowning  excel* 
lence  is  a  "Table  of  Rules  relating  to  Motions,"  on  two  opposite  pages  which 
contains  the  answers  to  more  than  two  hundred  questions  on  parliamentary  law, 
which  will  be  of  the  greatest  value  to  every  member  of  an  assembly. 

"  It  should  be  studied  by  all  who  wish  to  l»ccome  familiar  with  the  correct 
usages  of  public  meetings."— £.  O,  Haven,  D.  D.,  Chancellor  o/  Syracuse  Uni- 
versity. 

"  It  seems  much  better  adapted  to  the  use  of  societies  and  assemblies  than 
either  Jefferson's  Msnual  or  Cushing's."— 7".  M.  Gregory,  LL.  D.,  late  President 
of  the  Illinois  Industrial  University, 

"  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  see  your  Manual  brought  into  general  use,  as  I  am 
sure  it  must  be,  when  its  great  merit  and  utility  become  generally  known. — Hon.  f, 
M.  Cooley,  LL.  D  ,  author  of  '  Cooley's  Blackstone,'  "  etc. 

"  After  carefully  examining  it  and  comparing  it  with  several  other  books  having 
the  same  object  in  view,  I  am  free  to  say  that  it  is,  by  far,  the  best  of  all.  The 
'Table  of  Rules '  is  worth  the  cost  of  the  vforli."— Thomas  Bounnan,  D.  Z7., 
Bishop  of  Baltimore  M.  E.  Conference. 

"  This  capital  little  manual  will  be  found  exceedingly  useful  by  all  who  are 
concerned  in  the  organization  or  management  of  societies  of  various  kinds.  .  ,  . 
If  we  mistake  not,  the  book  will  displace  all  its  predecessors,  as  an  authority  on 
parliamentary  usages."— JVi'w  York  World, 

"I  admire  the  plan  of  your  work,  and  the  sir  plicity  and  fidelity  with  which 
you  have  executed  it.  It  is  one  of  the  best  compendiums  of  Parliamentary  Law 
that  I  have  seen,  and  exceedingly  valuable,  not  only  for  the  matter  usually 
embraced  in  such  a  book,  but  for  its  tables  and  incidental  matter,  which  serve 
greatly  to  adapt  it  to  common  use."— i?r.  D.  C.  Eddy,  Speaker  of  the  MastachU' 
setts  House  of  Representatives . 


MISHAPS  OF  MR.  EZEKIEL  PELTER.-IHustrated. 

Wmo,  cloth 81.50. 

"  So  ludicrou*  are  the  vicissitudes  of  the  much-abused  Ezekiel,  and  so  much  of 
human  nature  and  every  day  life  intermingle,  that  it  will  be  read  with  a  hearty  zest 
for  its  morals,  while  the  humor  is  irresistible.  If  you  want  to  laugh  at  something 
new,  a  regular  side-plitter,  get  this  book."— 7%*  Evangelist,  St.  Louis. 

"  We  have  reati  Ezekiel.  We  have  laughed  and  cried  over  its  pages  It  grows 
in  interest  to  the  last  sentence.  The  story  is  well  told,  and  the  mora!  ao  good,  that 
we  decidedly  like  and  commend  it.'*— Pacific  Baptist,  San  Franciteo. 


PUBLISHED   BY  S.  C.  CK/GGS  ^  CO.,  Clf/CAGO. 


m 


PmLOSOPHY  OF  THE   PLAN  OF  SALVATION.- 

By  Rev.  J.  B,  Walkkr,  D.D.,  with  an  Introductory  Essay  by  Calvin  E.  Stowk, 
D.n.  A  new  edition,  with  supplementary  chapter  by  the  a  thor.  Sixty-seventh 
thousand,     i  vol.     nmo.    Price,  $1.50. 

"  Though  written  with  great  simplicity,  it  is  evidently  the  production  of  a 
mastermind.  ♦  *  and  few  works  are  more  adapted  to  bring  skeptics  of  a  certain 
class  to  a  stand.  ♦  *  It  is  the  disclosure  of  the  actual  process  of  mind  through 
wHich  the  author  passes,  from  the  dark  regions  of  do«bt  and  infidelity  to  the  clear 
light  and  conviction  of  a  sound  and  heartfelt  belief  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

'^  There  is  in  many  parts  of  this  treatise,  a  force  of  argument  and  a  power  of 
conviction  almost  resistless. 

"  It  is  a  work  of  extraordinary  power.  *  *  We  think  it  is  utore  likely  to 
lod^  an  impression  in  the  human  conscience,  ifi  favor  0/  the  divine  authority 
0/  Christianity,  than  any  work  of  the  modern  press." —  London  Evangelical 
Magazine,  England, 

'^  No  single  volume  we  ever  read  has  been  so  sati:  factory  a  demonstration  of 
the  truth  of  religion,  or  has  had  so  strong  a  controlling  influence  over  our  habits 
of  thought.  •  *  No  better  book  can  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  honest  and 
intellectual  skeptic.  It  is  overwhelmingly  convincing  to  reason,  and  leaves  the 
doubter  nothing  but  his  passions  and  prejudices  to  bolster  him  up.  •  *  Every 
minister's  library  should  have  a  copy." — The  Methodist  Protestant.,  Baltimore. 

*'  It  fills  a  place  in  theological  literature  which  no  other  book  does.  It  is  the 
style  of  the  argument  which  gives  power,  impress iveness,  and  perennial  freshness 
to  this  production.  *  *  We  have  found  in  pastoral  experience  that  we  could 
place  no  better  uninspired  book  than  this  in  the  hands  of  intelligent  doubters,  or 
in  the  hands  of  new  converts,  for  their  aid  and  guidance.  Those  who  are  not 
famil'ar  with  it,  will  do  well  to  procure  a  copy  and  study  it  carefully.  It  is  worth 
more  than  some  large  libraries  to  those  who  read  for  their  profiting.^' —  The  Christ- 
ian at  Work.,  New  York. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT;  Or  Phil- 
osophy of  the  Divine  Operation  in  the  Redemption 

of  Man* — Being  volume  second  of"  The  Philosophy  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation." 
By  Rev.  J.  B.  Walker,  D.D.  Fourth  edition,  revised  and  enlarged.  Price, 
$1.50. 

"  The  author's  former  able  works  have  prepared  the  public  for  the  rich  treas- 
ures of  thought  in  this  volume.  It  ii  a  book  of  foundation  principles,  and  deals  in 
the  verities  of  the  gospel  as  with  scientific  facts.  It  is  an  unanswerable  argument 
in  behalf  of  Christ^s  life,  mission,  and  doctrine,  and  especially  rich  in  its  teachings 
concerning  the  office  and  work  of  the  Spirit.  No  volume  has  lately  issued  from  the 
press  which  brings  so  many  timely  truths  to  the  public  attention.  While  it  is 
metaphysical  and  thorough,  it  is  also  clever,  forceful,  winning  for  its  grand  truth's 
sake,  and  every  way  readable.  The  author  has  wrought  a  great  work  for  the 
Christian  Church,  and  every  minister  and  teacher  should  arm  himself  with 
strong  weapons  by  perusing  the  arguments  of  this  book.  It  is  printed  and  bound 
in  the  exquisite  style  ofall  publications  which  issue  from  Messrs.  S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co.'s 
csublishment."— ^//Ao</tf /  Recorder ^  Pittsburgh, 


